Argan (NYSE:AGX) Upgraded at StockNews.com

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

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

Argan Stock Down 1.9 %

NYSE:AGX opened at $60.05 on Monday. Argan has a 52 week low of $37.37 and a 52 week high of $62.04. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $49.43 and a 200 day moving average of $46.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $795.06 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.13 and a beta of 0.49.

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

Argan Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 19th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.00%. Argan’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.21%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Jump Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Argan in the third quarter worth $493,000. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC purchased a new position in shares of Argan in the third quarter worth $666,000. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 1,093 shares during the last quarter. Azarias Capital Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of 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. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.