Watershed Asset Management L.L.C. Buys 441 Shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX)

Watershed Asset Management L.L.C. increased its stake in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 7.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 6,321 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 441 shares during the quarter. Watershed Asset Management L.L.C.’s holdings in Argan were worth $296,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cardinal Capital Management increased its position in shares of Argan by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 22,904 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,072,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in Argan by 360.1% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 18,005 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $842,000 after acquiring an additional 14,092 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new position in Argan during the 4th quarter valued at $64,000. New York State Teachers Retirement System purchased a new position in Argan during the 4th quarter valued at $53,000. Finally, Azarias Capital Management L.P. boosted its holdings in Argan by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Azarias Capital Management L.P. now owns 180,525 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $8,447,000 after acquiring an additional 7,382 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director W G. Champion Mitchell sold 2,507 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 2,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $153,700. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director W G. Champion Mitchell sold 2,507 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 2,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $153,700. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman William F. Griffin, Jr. sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.99, for a total value of $899,850.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 14,150 shares in the company, valued at $848,858.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 36,906 shares of company stock worth $2,227,349 in the last three months. 11.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AGX. StockNews.com upgraded Argan from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Lake Street Capital upped their target price on Argan from $61.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th.

Argan Price Performance

Shares of AGX stock traded down $0.01 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $61.63. The stock had a trading volume of 107,551 shares, compared to its average volume of 73,456. Argan, Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.37 and a 12-month high of $62.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $815.98 million, a P/E ratio of 25.79 and a beta of 0.49. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $50.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $47.37.

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

Argan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Monday, April 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 19th. Argan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.21%.

About Argan

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.