Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) Shares Bought by Penn Mutual Asset Management

Penn Mutual Asset Management grew its position in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX - Free Report) by 195.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,050 shares of the construction company's stock after buying an additional 6,650 shares during the period. Argan makes up 2.0% of Penn Mutual Asset Management's portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Penn Mutual Asset Management owned approximately 0.07% of Argan worth $1,019,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Argan by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,796 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $486,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Cardinal Capital Management lifted its stake in Argan by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 29,062 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $2,126,000 after purchasing an additional 338 shares during the last quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Argan by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC now owns 10,862 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $795,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Argan by 68.2% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,033 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $105,000 after purchasing an additional 419 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new position in shares of Argan during the third quarter valued at $43,000. 79.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on AGX shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Argan from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Lake Street Capital cut shares of Argan from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and upped their price target for the company from $85.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Tuesday.

Argan Price Performance

Argan stock traded down $0.93 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $148.98. The stock had a trading volume of 301,925 shares, compared to its average volume of 175,145. The stock has a market cap of $2.01 billion, a PE ratio of 47.14 and a beta of 0.53. Argan, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.74 and a 52 week high of $165.33. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $132.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $95.90.

Argan (NYSE:AGX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 5th. The construction company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.34. Argan had a net margin of 6.11% and a return on equity of 14.80%. The company had revenue of $227.02 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $191.05 million. Argan's revenue for the quarter was up 60.6% on a year-over-year basis.

Argan Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 23rd were given a dividend of $0.375 per share. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.01%. This is a positive change from Argan's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 23rd. Argan's payout ratio is 47.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Argan

In related news, Director James W. Quinn sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.68, for a total value of $896,800.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 70,422 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,315,444.96. The trade was a 12.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Rainer H. Bosselmann sold 4,598 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.01, for a total transaction of $602,383.98. Following the transaction, the director now owns 236,745 shares in the company, valued at $31,015,962.45. This trade represents a 1.91 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 39,703 shares of company stock valued at $4,257,794 over the last 90 days. 11.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Argan Profile

Argan, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning, maintenance, project development, and technical consulting services to the power generation market. The company operates through Power Services, Industrial Services, and Telecom Services segments. The Power Services segment offers engineering, procurement, and construction, as well as designing, building, and commissioning of large-scale energy projects to the owners of alternative energy facilities, such as biomass plants, wind farms, and solar fields; and design, construction, project management, start-up, and operation services for projects with approximately 18 gigawatts of power-generating capacity.