Quadrature Capital Ltd Cuts Stake in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX)

Quadrature Capital Ltd lessened its holdings in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 84.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,379 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 13,006 shares during the quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd’s holdings in Argan were worth $241,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AGX. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Argan by 31.8% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 305,298 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $22,336,000 after acquiring an additional 73,658 shares during the last quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Argan during the second quarter valued at approximately $5,245,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Argan by 72.2% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 114,224 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $11,586,000 after purchasing an additional 47,881 shares during the last quarter. Sapient Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Argan in the third quarter worth approximately $4,783,000. Finally, Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Argan in the second quarter worth $3,168,000. 79.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Argan Trading Down 2.7 %

Shares of Argan stock opened at $142.45 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $137.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $98.68. Argan, Inc. has a 12-month low of $41.25 and a 12-month high of $165.33. The company has a market cap of $1.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.80 and a beta of 0.53.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The construction company reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.74. The company had revenue of $257.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $225.60 million. Argan had a net margin of 8.20% and a return on equity of 21.66%. Argan’s revenue was up 56.9% on a year-over-year basis.

Argan Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 23rd were paid a $0.375 dividend. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.05%. This is a boost from Argan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 23rd. Argan’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Lake Street Capital cut Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $85.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, CJS Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $150.00 price target on shares of Argan in a research report on Friday, December 6th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Argan news, Director Rainer H. Bosselmann sold 10,105 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.10, for a total value of $1,314,660.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 219,879 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,606,257.90. The trade was a 4.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Cynthia Flanders sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.39, for a total value of $481,950.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 17,332 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,670,631.48. The trade was a 22.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 29,703 shares of company stock worth $3,360,994. 11.85% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.