DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale Buys New Shares in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX)

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new stake in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 1,358 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AGX. New York State Teachers Retirement System acquired a new stake in Argan in the fourth quarter valued at $53,000. Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its stake in Argan by 390.9% in the second quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 1,620 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 1,290 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Argan in the second quarter valued at $80,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Argan in the first quarter valued at $109,000. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Argan by 519.2% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 3,517 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $130,000 after acquiring an additional 2,949 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Argan Stock Performance

NYSE AGX opened at $60.05 on Thursday. 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 cap of $795.06 million, a PE ratio of 25.13 and a beta of 0.49. Argan, Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.37 and a 52-week high of $62.04.

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

Argan Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders 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 2.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 19th. Argan’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.21%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on AGX. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Argan from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Lake Street Capital increased their price target on shares of Argan from $61.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th.

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.