Navellier & Associates Inc. Raises Position in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX)

Navellier & Associates Inc. increased its position in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 28.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,923 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,761 shares during the quarter. Navellier & Associates Inc. owned approximately 0.06% of Argan worth $804,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AGX. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Argan by 1.8% during the third quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,796 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $486,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Cardinal Capital Management lifted its holdings in Argan by 1.2% in the second quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 29,062 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,126,000 after acquiring an additional 338 shares during the period. Ellsworth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Argan by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC now owns 10,862 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $795,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares during the period. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Argan during the 3rd quarter valued at about $43,000. Finally, Savant Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Argan by 4.4% in the second quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 10,285 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $752,000 after buying an additional 431 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director William F. Leimkuhler sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.20, for a total value 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 approximately $3,448,962.40. This trade represents a 21.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Rainer H. Bosselmann sold 10,105 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.10, for a total transaction of $1,314,660.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 219,879 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,606,257.90. The trade was a 4.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 39,703 shares of company stock worth $4,257,794 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 11.85% of the company’s stock.

Argan Trading Up 4.9 %

Shares of AGX opened at $154.08 on Friday. Argan, Inc. has a 12-month low of $39.74 and a 12-month high of $162.78. The company has a market capitalization of $2.08 billion, a PE ratio of 48.45 and a beta of 0.49. The business’s 50 day moving average is $120.93 and its 200 day moving average is $90.07.

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

Argan Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.375 per share. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 23rd. This is an increase from Argan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Argan’s dividend payout ratio is 47.17%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.