Legato Capital Management LLC Sells 8,082 Shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX)

Legato Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 9.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 77,478 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 8,082 shares during the quarter. Argan comprises about 1.4% of Legato Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Legato Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Argan were worth $10,618,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Spire Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Argan in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new position in Argan in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $43,000. Copeland Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Argan during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $56,000. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Argan during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $91,000. Finally, KBC Group NV acquired a new stake in Argan during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $93,000. 79.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Argan news, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 7,385 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.29, for a total transaction of $1,220,666.65. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,949,099.68. This trade represents a 38.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Richard H. Deily sold 2,000 shares of Argan stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,405,050. This trade represents a 17.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 20,185 shares of company stock valued at $3,105,359. 11.85% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Lake Street Capital cut shares of Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $85.00 to $150.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. CJS Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $150.00 price target on shares of Argan in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th.

Argan Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AGX opened at $151.01 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.59 and a beta of 0.56. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $150.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $122.61. Argan, Inc. has a 12 month low of $44.69 and a 12 month high of $191.46.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The construction company reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.74. The company had revenue of $257.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $225.60 million. Argan had a net margin of 8.20% and a return on equity of 21.66%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 56.9% on a year-over-year basis.

Argan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, January 23rd were paid a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 23rd. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.99%. Argan’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.38%.

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.