Argan (NYSE:AGX) to Repurchase $200.00 million in Stock

Argan (NYSE:AGX) declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, April 8th, RTT News reports. The company plans to repurchase $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the construction company to buy up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Argan Trading Up 2.1%

AGX opened at $589.20 on Thursday. Argan has a 12 month low of $126.07 and a 12 month high of $615.00. The company has a market cap of $8.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.49 and a beta of 0.46. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $450.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $365.89.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 26th. The construction company reported $3.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $1.48. Argan had a return on equity of 33.62% and a net margin of 14.59%.The company had revenue of $262.05 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $255.32 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.22 EPS. Argan’s revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on AGX. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Argan in a report on Monday. Lake Street Capital lifted their price objective on Argan from $325.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. Zacks Research upgraded Argan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Argan from $399.00 to $518.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Argan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Argan currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $425.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director William F. Leimkuhler sold 11,044 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $379.15, for a total transaction of $4,187,332.60. Following the transaction, the director owned 49,939 shares in the company, valued at $18,934,371.85. The trade was a 18.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Cynthia Flanders sold 19,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $386.70, for a total value of $7,347,300.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 26,207 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,134,246.90. This represents a 42.03% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 51,257 shares of company stock worth $20,291,136 in the last quarter. 6.69% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Argan

Argan, Inc (NYSE: AGX) is a holding company that provides professional technical and management services to the power generation and renewable energy industries. Through its wholly owned subsidiaries, the company delivers engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM), commissioning and operations and maintenance (O&M) services for a broad range of energy facilities. Argan focuses on projects for utility, industrial and municipally owned clients, helping to bring efficient thermal and renewable energy plants into operation and maintain optimal performance over the asset life cycle.

The company’s principal subsidiaries include Gemma Power Systems, which specializes in turnkey construction of combined-cycle, simple-cycle, cogeneration and renewable energy plants; Atlantic Projects Company, which provides electrical balance-of-plant, control systems, instrumentation and commissioning services; and Infrastructure Solutions, which offers industrial maintenance, outage support and modification services.