Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) saw a significant increase in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 602,300 shares, an increase of 5.1% from the December 15th total of 573,000 shares. Currently, 4.7% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 317,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.9 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.24, for a total transaction of $124,192.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 19,177 shares in the company, valued at $2,977,037.48. This trade represents a 4.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO David Hibbert Watson sold 10,000 shares of Argan stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.05, for a total value of $1,460,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 51,291 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,491,050.55. This trade represents a 16.32 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 20,185 shares of company stock valued at $3,105,359. 11.85% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Argan by 81.8% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 911,056 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $92,408,000 after acquiring an additional 409,948 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Argan by 4.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 353,984 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $35,905,000 after purchasing an additional 16,055 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Argan by 0.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 287,246 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $29,141,000 after buying an additional 1,553 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its position in Argan by 72.2% during 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 acquiring an additional 47,881 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Argan by 27.4% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 107,825 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $7,888,000 after purchasing an additional 23,168 shares in the last quarter. 79.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on AGX shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Lake Street Capital downgraded shares of Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $85.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, CJS Securities restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $150.00 price target on shares of Argan in a research report on Friday, December 6th.

Argan Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of Argan stock opened at $177.64 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.16 and a beta of 0.56. Argan has a 52-week low of $43.44 and a 52-week high of $181.37. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $150.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $114.46.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last issued its 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. Argan had a return on equity of 21.66% and a net margin of 8.20%. The business had revenue of $257.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $225.60 million. Argan’s revenue for the quarter was up 56.9% on a year-over-year basis.

Argan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, January 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.375 per share. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 23rd. Argan’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.38%.

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.