Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC Purchases Shares of 35,916 Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX)

Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 35,916 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,628,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AGX. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Argan during the second quarter worth approximately $70,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Argan during the first quarter worth approximately $95,000. Quest Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Argan by 3,321.4% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 1,916 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $140,000 after purchasing an additional 1,860 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of Argan by 84.6% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,457 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $180,000 after buying an additional 1,126 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Argan during the second quarter worth approximately $251,000. 79.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Argan Price Performance

AGX opened at $100.43 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $1.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.74 and a beta of 0.51. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $80.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $70.20. Argan, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.74 and a fifty-two week high of $103.00.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, September 5th. The construction company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.34. Argan had a net margin of 6.11% and a return on equity of 14.80%. The firm had revenue of $227.02 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $191.05 million. The business’s revenue was up 60.6% compared to the same quarter last year.

Argan Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 23rd will be paid a $0.375 dividend. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 23rd. This is an increase from Argan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Argan’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 shares were sold at an average price of $71.52, for a total value of $1,788,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 273,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,590,472.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Rainer H. Bosselmann sold 17,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.23, for a total transaction of $1,176,910.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 247,719 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,149,586.37. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Rainer H. Bosselmann sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.52, for a total transaction of $1,788,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 273,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,590,472.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 98,539 shares of company stock valued at $7,785,385. Corporate insiders own 11.85% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AGX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Argan from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 7th. Lake Street Capital boosted their price target on shares of Argan from $70.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 7th.

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.