Point72 DIFC Ltd Invests $70,000 in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX)

Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 960 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $70,000.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Rainer H. Bosselmann sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now directly 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 SEC, which is available at this link. In other Argan news, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 1,405 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.36, for a total value of $110,095.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,018,680. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Rainer H. Bosselmann sold 25,000 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 273,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,590,472.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 98,539 shares of company stock worth $7,785,385. 11.85% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Argan Stock Up 2.0 %

NYSE AGX opened at $100.43 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.36 billion, a PE ratio of 35.74 and a beta of 0.51. Argan, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.74 and a 52 week high of $103.00. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $80.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $70.05.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 5th. The construction company reported $1.31 EPS 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 firm’s revenue was up 60.6% compared to the same quarter last year.

Argan Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 23rd will be issued a $0.375 dividend. This is a positive change from Argan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 23rd. Argan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.70%.

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.