Argan (NYSE:AGX) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Argan (NYSE:AGX) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning.

Separately, Lake Street Capital raised their target price on Argan from $61.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th.

Argan Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE AGX opened at $60.99 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $807.51 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.52 and a beta of 0.49. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $49.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.02. Argan has a 52-week low of $37.37 and a 52-week high of $62.04.

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

Argan Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Monday, April 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 19th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.97%. Argan’s payout ratio is 50.21%.

Institutional Trading of Argan

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Jump Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Argan in the third quarter worth about $493,000. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC bought a new position in shares of Argan in the third quarter worth about $666,000. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Argan by 18.8% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 6,918 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $324,000 after purchasing an additional 1,093 shares during the period. Azarias Capital Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Argan by 37.6% in 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 period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Argan by 9.1% in 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 period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

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.