Magnetar Financial LLC Takes $306,000 Position in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX)

Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new position in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 4,185 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $306,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Trexquant Investment LP bought a new stake in shares of Argan during the 4th quarter valued at about $623,000. Pinnacle Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Argan by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Holdings LLC now owns 26,358 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,233,000 after buying an additional 1,612 shares during the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd grew its position in Argan by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 16,754 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $785,000 after buying an additional 1,233 shares during the period. Cardinal Capital Management increased its holdings in Argan by 25.4% during the first quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 28,724 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,452,000 after buying an additional 5,820 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in Argan by 12.5% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 20,264 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,024,000 after acquiring an additional 2,259 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Argan

In other Argan news, Director Rainer H. Bosselmann sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.52, for a total value of $1,788,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 273,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,590,472.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Rainer H. Bosselmann sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.52, for a total value of $1,788,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 273,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,590,472.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Rainer H. Bosselmann sold 17,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.23, for a total transaction of $1,176,910.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 247,719 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,149,586.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 93,539 shares of company stock valued at $7,303,435. 11.85% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Argan from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 7th. Lake Street Capital upped their price target on Argan from $70.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 7th.

Argan Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AGX opened at $97.85 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.82 and a beta of 0.51. Argan, Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.74 and a 1-year high of $98.40. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $79.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $69.49.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, September 5th. The construction company reported $1.31 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $191.05 million. The company’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 will be paid on Thursday, October 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.375 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 23rd. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.53%. This is a boost from Argan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Argan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.70%.

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.