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

Argan (NYSE:AGX) announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 8th, RTT News reports. The company plans to repurchase $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the construction company to buy up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on AGX shares. Lake Street Capital boosted their target price on Argan from $325.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Argan in a research note on Monday. CJS Securities upgraded shares of Argan to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Argan from $399.00 to $518.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Argan from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $550.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, March 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $425.40.

Argan Stock Up 2.1%

NYSE AGX traded up $12.25 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $589.20. 457,842 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 670,037. The company has a market cap of $8.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.49 and a beta of 0.46. Argan has a 12-month low of $126.07 and a 12-month high of $615.00. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $450.33 and a 200 day moving average of $365.89.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 26th. The construction company reported $3.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $1.48. The firm had revenue of $262.05 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $255.32 million. Argan had a net margin of 14.59% and a return on equity of 33.62%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.22 earnings per share.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director John Ronald Jr. Jeffrey sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.78, for a total transaction of $1,803,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 8,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,955,509.76. This represents a 37.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Cynthia Flanders sold 19,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $386.70, for a total transaction of $7,347,300.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 26,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,134,246.90. This represents a 42.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 57,852 shares of company stock valued at $22,360,053. Company insiders own 6.69% of the company’s stock.

Argan Company Profile

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.