Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) Short Interest Up 94.7% in April

Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 132,400 shares, an increase of 94.7% from the March 31st total of 68,000 shares. Approximately 1.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 74,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.8 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AGX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Argan from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Lake Street Capital boosted their price target on shares of Argan from $61.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Argan

In other Argan news, Director Mano S. Koilpillai sold 2,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.79, for a total value of $166,833.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,608 shares in the company, valued at $470,098.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, Director Mano S. Koilpillai sold 2,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.79, for a total transaction of $166,833.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,608 shares in the company, valued at $470,098.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director W G. Champion Mitchell sold 2,507 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.48, for a total transaction of $154,130.36. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,500 shares in the company, valued at $153,700. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 39,606 shares of company stock worth $2,394,182 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 11.53% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Argan

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Argan during the third quarter worth $265,000. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. boosted its holdings in Argan by 3.7% during the third quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 21,712 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $988,000 after purchasing an additional 775 shares during the last quarter. Azarias Capital Management L.P. boosted its holdings in Argan by 37.6% during the third quarter. Azarias Capital Management L.P. now owns 173,143 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $7,881,000 after purchasing an additional 47,332 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in Argan by 68.4% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 3,720 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $169,000 after purchasing an additional 1,511 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Argan by 9.1% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 395,664 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $18,011,000 after purchasing an additional 32,958 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Argan Stock Performance

NYSE:AGX traded up $0.77 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $61.98. The stock had a trading volume of 51,705 shares, compared to its average volume of 115,998. Argan has a one year low of $37.37 and a one year high of $62.69. The company has a market cap of $820.62 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.93 and a beta of 0.49. The business’s 50 day moving average is $51.54 and its 200-day moving average is $47.67.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 11th. The construction company reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.14. Argan had a net margin of 5.64% and a return on equity of 11.37%. The firm had revenue of $164.55 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $162.05 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.46) earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 38.5% on a year-over-year basis.

Argan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 19th. Argan’s dividend payout ratio is 50.21%.

Argan Company Profile

Argan, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning, maintenance, project development, technical, and consulting services to the power generation market. The company operates through Power Industry Services, Industrial Fabrication and Field Services, and Telecommunications Infrastructure Services segments.