Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) Shares Sold by Quadrature Capital Ltd

Quadrature Capital Ltd cut its holdings in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX - Free Report) by 84.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,379 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 13,006 shares during the quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd's holdings in Argan were worth $241,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Argan in the second quarter valued at $41,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Argan in the third quarter valued at $43,000. Copeland Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Argan in the third quarter worth $56,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in Argan in the second quarter worth $70,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in Argan in the third quarter worth $91,000. 79.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Argan Trading Up 3.6 %

Shares of Argan stock traded up $5.08 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $147.53. 164,203 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 180,617. The firm has a market cap of $2.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.80 and a beta of 0.53. Argan, Inc. has a 52-week low of $42.54 and a 52-week high of $165.33. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $137.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $98.68.

Argan (NYSE:AGX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The construction company reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.74. The firm had revenue of $257.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $225.60 million. Argan had a return on equity of 21.66% and a net margin of 8.20%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 56.9% on a year-over-year basis.

Argan Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 23rd were paid a $0.375 dividend. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 23rd. This is a positive change from Argan's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Argan's payout ratio is 31.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Argan

In other news, Director Rainer H. Bosselmann sold 4,598 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.01, for a total transaction of $602,383.98. Following the sale, the director now owns 236,745 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,015,962.45. The trade was a 1.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director William F. Leimkuhler sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.20, for a total value of $962,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 35,852 shares in the company, valued at $3,448,962.40. The trade was a 21.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 29,703 shares of company stock worth $3,360,994 over the last quarter. Insiders own 11.85% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Argan from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Lake Street Capital downgraded Argan from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $85.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, CJS Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating and set a $150.00 target price on shares of Argan in a research report on Friday, December 6th.

Argan Company 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.