Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) Short Interest Up 9.8% in September

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) was the target of a large increase in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 258,700 shares, an increase of 9.8% from the September 15th total of 235,700 shares. Currently, 2.0% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 221,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.2 days.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 1,405 shares of Argan stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was 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 owns 13,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,018,680. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. 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 Peter W. Getsinger sold 1,405 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.36, for a total value of $110,095.80. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,018,680. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director William F. Leimkuhler sold 10,000 shares of Argan stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.20, for a total transaction of $962,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 35,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,448,962.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 56,539 shares of company stock worth $4,820,475. 11.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. American Century Companies Inc. lifted 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 during the period. Hood River Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Argan in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $5,245,000. Sapient Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Argan in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $4,783,000. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. bought a new position in shares of Argan in the second quarter valued at approximately $3,168,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in shares of Argan during the second quarter valued at approximately $3,166,000. Institutional investors own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Argan Trading Up 7.3 %

NYSE:AGX traded up $8.80 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $129.28. The stock had a trading volume of 710,332 shares, compared to its average volume of 152,244. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $88.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $75.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.07 and a beta of 0.53. Argan has a 52 week low of $39.74 and a 52 week high of $129.98.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last released its quarterly 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 return on equity of 14.80% and a net margin of 6.11%. The company had revenue of $227.02 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $191.05 million. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 60.6% on a year-over-year basis.

Argan Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.375 per share. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 23rd. This is a positive change from Argan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Argan’s payout ratio is 53.38%.

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.