River Road Asset Management LLC Has $71.84 Million Stock Holdings in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX)

River Road Asset Management LLC cut its position in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 9.3% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 708,256 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 72,560 shares during the quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC owned about 0.05% of Argan worth $71,838,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AGX. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Argan during the second quarter worth about $41,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new stake in Argan during the third quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Copeland Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Argan during the third quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in Argan during the second quarter valued at approximately $70,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Argan during the third quarter valued at approximately $91,000. 79.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Argan Trading Up 1.6 %

NYSE:AGX opened at $138.77 on Tuesday. Argan, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.74 and a 1 year high of $141.46. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $104.40 and a 200-day moving average of $82.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.97 and a beta of 0.49.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, September 5th. The construction company reported $1.31 earnings per share (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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $191.05 million. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 60.6% compared to the same quarter last year.

Argan Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 23rd were paid a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 23rd. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.08%. This is a boost from Argan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Argan’s payout ratio is 47.17%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Rainer H. Bosselmann sold 4,598 shares of Argan stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.01, for a total value of $602,383.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 236,745 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,015,962.45. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Rainer H. Bosselmann sold 4,598 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.01, for a total value of $602,383.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 236,745 shares in the company, valued at $31,015,962.45. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director William F. Leimkuhler sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was 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 owns 35,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,448,962.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 39,703 shares of company stock worth $4,257,794. Insiders own 11.85% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th.

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.