Argan (NYSE:AGX) Raised to “Buy” at Lake Street Capital

Argan (NYSE:AGX) was upgraded by Lake Street Capital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The brokerage presently has a $150.00 target price on the construction company’s stock. Lake Street Capital’s target price suggests a potential upside of 30.54% from the company’s current price.

Separately, CJS Securities reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $150.00 price target on shares of Argan in a research report on Friday, December 6th.

Argan Stock Performance

NYSE AGX opened at $114.91 on Friday. Argan has a one year low of $48.85 and a one year high of $191.46. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $136.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $134.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.04 and a beta of 0.58.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 27th. The construction company reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $1.07. Argan had a net margin of 8.20% and a return on equity of 21.66%. The business had revenue of $232.47 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $197.50 million. The business’s revenue was up 41.3% compared to the same quarter last year.

Insider Activity at Argan

In other Argan news, CFO Richard H. Deily sold 2,000 shares of Argan stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $300,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 9,367 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,405,050. This trade represents a 17.59 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 800 shares of Argan stock in a transaction on Friday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.24, for a total value of $124,192.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 19,177 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,977,037.48. The trade was a 4.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 10,185 shares of company stock worth $1,644,859 over the last ninety days. 11.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Argan

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Argan by 81.8% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 911,056 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $92,408,000 after buying an additional 409,948 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in Argan in the fourth quarter valued at about $23,064,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Argan by 21.0% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 672,579 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $92,170,000 after buying an additional 116,783 shares in the last quarter. Thames Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Argan by 286.8% during the fourth quarter. Thames Capital Management LLC now owns 117,384 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $16,086,000 after acquiring an additional 87,038 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Argan by 80.3% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 186,437 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $25,549,000 after purchasing an additional 83,039 shares in the last quarter. 79.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.