Sapient Capital LLC Boosts Holdings in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX)

Sapient Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX - Free Report) by 9.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 51,393 shares of the construction company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,235 shares during the period. Sapient Capital LLC owned about 0.38% of Argan worth $7,043,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA bought a new position in Argan during the 4th quarter valued at about $272,000. Savant Capital LLC grew its holdings in Argan by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 10,552 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $1,446,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Argan during the 4th quarter valued at about $8,241,000. Meritage Portfolio Management grew its holdings in Argan by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 5,147 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $705,000 after purchasing an additional 354 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. bought a new position in Argan during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,333,000. 79.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on AGX. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Argan from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Lake Street Capital downgraded shares of Argan from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $85.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, CJS Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and issued a $150.00 price target on shares of Argan in a research report on Friday, December 6th.

Insider Activity at Argan

In related news, CFO Richard H. Deily sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $300,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 9,367 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,405,050. This represents a 17.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 7,385 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.29, for a total transaction of $1,220,666.65. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 11,792 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,949,099.68. The trade was a 38.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 20,185 shares of company stock valued at $3,105,359 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 11.85% of the company's stock.

Argan Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of AGX traded up $0.08 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $148.22. The company's stock had a trading volume of 187,047 shares, compared to its average volume of 505,955. The company's 50-day moving average is $150.79 and its 200-day moving average is $123.49. Argan, Inc. has a 52-week low of $45.93 and a 52-week high of $191.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.01 and a beta of 0.56.

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

Argan Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, January 23rd were given a dividend of $0.375 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 23rd. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.01%. Argan's payout ratio is 31.38%.

About Argan

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.