Stock Buyback Plan Initiated by Argan (NYSE:AGX) Board of Directors

Argan (NYSE:AGX) announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, April 8th, RTT News reports. The company plans to buyback $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the construction company to purchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Argan Price Performance

AGX stock traded up $12.25 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $589.20. The stock had a trading volume of 457,842 shares, compared to its average volume of 670,037. Argan has a twelve month low of $126.07 and a twelve month high of $615.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.49 and a beta of 0.46. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $450.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $365.89.

Argan (NYSE:AGX) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. 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 analysts’ expectations of $255.32 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.22 EPS. Argan’s revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on AGX shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Argan from $399.00 to $518.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Zacks Research raised Argan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Lake Street Capital upped their target price on Argan from $325.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Freedom Capital raised Argan to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, CJS Securities raised Argan to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $425.40.

Insider Transactions at Argan

In other Argan news, Director Peter W. Getsinger sold 2,581 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $552.73, for a total value of $1,426,596.13. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 10,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,995,462.31. This trade represents a 19.22% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John Ronald Jr. Jeffrey sold 4,556 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $539.85, for a total value of $2,459,556.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 3,636 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,962,894.60. This trade represents a 55.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 57,852 shares of company stock valued at $22,360,053. 6.69% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.