Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) Short Interest Update

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 291,100 shares, a growth of 21.3% from the August 15th total of 239,900 shares. Currently, 2.3% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 215,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.4 days.

Insider Activity at Argan

In other Argan news, Director James W. Quinn sold 10,000 shares of Argan stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.68, for a total value of $896,800.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 70,422 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,315,444.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Argan news, Director James W. Quinn sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.68, for a total transaction of $896,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 70,422 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,315,444.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Rainer H. Bosselmann sold 17,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director now owns 247,719 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,149,586.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 83,539 shares of company stock worth $6,341,435. 11.85% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Argan

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Argan by 1.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 726,171 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $36,701,000 after purchasing an additional 12,162 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Argan by 7.7% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 537,296 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $39,309,000 after buying an additional 38,300 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Argan by 31.8% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 305,298 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $22,336,000 after purchasing an additional 73,658 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Argan by 32.8% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 175,245 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $12,811,000 after purchasing an additional 43,258 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Argan by 3.0% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 112,979 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $8,266,000 after acquiring an additional 3,314 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Argan Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE:AGX traded up $0.09 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $90.93. 83,299 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 136,228. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $76.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $67.36. The firm has a market cap of $1.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.33 and a beta of 0.51. Argan has a fifty-two week low of $39.74 and a fifty-two week high of $95.73.

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

Argan Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 23rd were given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 23rd. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.32%. Argan’s payout ratio is 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.