Aristides Capital LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX)

Aristides Capital LLC reduced its stake in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 28.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,024 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 5,980 shares during the quarter. Aristides Capital LLC’s holdings in Argan were worth $1,099,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AGX. Pinnacle Holdings LLC lifted its position 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 valued at $1,233,000 after acquiring an additional 1,612 shares in the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd increased its stake in Argan by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 16,754 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $785,000 after purchasing an additional 1,233 shares during the last quarter. Cardinal Capital Management increased 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 purchasing an additional 5,820 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake 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 valued at $1,024,000 after purchasing an additional 2,259 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in Argan by 18.3% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 10,426 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $527,000 after purchasing an additional 1,611 shares during the last quarter. 79.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on AGX shares. StockNews.com lowered Argan from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 7th. Lake Street Capital upped their target price on Argan from $70.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 7th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Argan news, Director Cynthia Flanders sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $1,670,631.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Cynthia Flanders sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.39, for a total value of $481,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 17,332 shares in the company, valued at $1,670,631.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Rainer H. Bosselmann sold 17,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.23, for a total value 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 approximately $17,149,586.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 98,539 shares of company stock worth $7,785,385 over the last three months. 11.85% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Argan Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AGX opened at $101.43 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.35 billion, a PE ratio of 36.10 and a beta of 0.51. The business has a 50-day moving average of $80.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $70.35. Argan, Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.74 and a 12 month high of $103.00.

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

Argan Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.375 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 23rd. This is a positive change from Argan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.48%. Argan’s dividend payout ratio is currently 53.38%.

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.