River Road Asset Management LLC Has $42.52 Million Holdings in Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX)

River Road Asset Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) by 56.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 310,247 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 398,009 shares during the quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC owned approximately 2.29% of Argan worth $42,516,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Spire Wealth Management acquired a new position in Argan during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Argan during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. KBC Group NV bought a new stake in shares of Argan during the 4th quarter valued at $93,000. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Argan by 68.2% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,033 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $105,000 after acquiring an additional 419 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi raised its position in shares of Argan by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 859 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $118,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.43% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Argan news, CFO Richard H. Deily sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $300,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 9,367 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,405,050. This represents a 17.59 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 7,385 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.29, for a total transaction of $1,220,666.65. Following the transaction, the director now owns 11,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,949,099.68. This represents a 38.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 20,185 shares of company stock worth $3,105,359. Corporate insiders own 11.85% of the company’s stock.

Argan Trading Down 8.9 %

AGX stock opened at $103.72 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $146.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $131.05. The stock has a market cap of $1.41 billion, a PE ratio of 21.70 and a beta of 0.58. Argan, Inc. has a 1 year low of $47.42 and a 1 year high of $191.46.

Argan Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.375 per share. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 23rd. Argan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.38%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on AGX. CJS Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $150.00 target price on shares of Argan in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Lake Street Capital cut shares of Argan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $85.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd.

Argan Company Profile

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.