Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) Short Interest Up 5.1% in December

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 602,300 shares, a growth of 5.1% from the December 15th total of 573,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 317,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.9 days. Currently, 4.7% of the company's shares are sold short.

Argan Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:AGX traded up $2.29 during trading on Monday, hitting $177.64. 360,159 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 227,323. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $150.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $114.46. Argan has a 52 week low of $43.44 and a 52 week high of $181.37. The company has a market cap of $2.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.16 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, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $225.60 million. The company's revenue was up 56.9% on a year-over-year basis.

Argan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, January 23rd will be paid a $0.375 dividend. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 23rd. Argan's payout ratio is presently 31.38%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 800 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.24, for a total value of $124,192.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 19,177 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,977,037.48. This represents a 4.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO David Hibbert Watson sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.05, for a total value of $1,460,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 51,291 shares in the company, valued at $7,491,050.55. The trade was a 16.32 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 20,185 shares of company stock valued at $3,105,359 over the last 90 days. 11.85% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Argan

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Argan by 81.8% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 911,056 shares of the construction company's stock worth $92,408,000 after buying an additional 409,948 shares during the period. Hood River Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Argan in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $5,245,000. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC acquired a new position in Argan during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $6,687,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Argan by 72.2% during the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 114,224 shares of the construction company's stock worth $11,586,000 after acquiring an additional 47,881 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sapient Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Argan in the third quarter valued at approximately $4,783,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.43% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.