XTX Topco Ltd Buys New Stake in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX)

XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 6,224 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $631,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Argan by 10.5% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,656 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $286,000 after buying an additional 539 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of Argan by 84.6% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,457 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $180,000 after buying an additional 1,126 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Argan during the second quarter valued at approximately $397,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Argan during the second quarter valued at approximately $251,000. Finally, Calamos Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Argan during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,831,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.43% of the company's stock.

Argan Price Performance

Argan stock traded down $1.31 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $142.96. 193,557 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 181,558. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.91 and a beta of 0.53. The business has a 50 day moving average of $138.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $99.34. Argan, Inc. has a 12 month low of $43.00 and a 12 month high of $165.33.

Argan (NYSE:AGX - Get Free Report) last released 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 business had revenue of $257.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $225.60 million. The firm's revenue was up 56.9% compared to the same quarter last year.

Argan Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd will be given a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 23rd. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.05%. Argan's payout ratio is presently 31.38%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Lake Street Capital cut 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 report on Tuesday, December 3rd. CJS Securities restated a "market perform" rating and set a $150.00 price objective on shares of Argan in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Argan from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Rainer H. Bosselmann sold 10,105 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.10, for a total value of $1,314,660.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 219,879 shares of the company's stock, valued at $28,606,257.90. This represents a 4.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Cynthia Flanders sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.39, for a total transaction of $481,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 17,332 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,670,631.48. This trade represents a 22.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 29,703 shares of company stock worth $3,360,994. Company insiders own 11.85% of the company's stock.

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.