On Assignment Launches $150 Million Buyback Program

On Assignment Inc.’s board approved a new stock repurchase program that allows the company to buy up to $150 million of its common stock over the next two years, the company announced Monday. The program, effective immediately, will replace the Calabasas staffing company’s old $100 million repurchase program, in which only $2 million worth of stock were bought. However, the new $150 million repurchase does not require On Assignment to purchase a certain amount of stock and can be cancelled at any time at the company’s discretion. “Since the acquisition of Creative Circle in June 2015, we have reduced our leverage ratio from 3.8 times (ratio of debt to trailing adjusted earnings before interest, income taxes, depreciation and amortization) to 2.8 times at the end of the preceding quarter,” Chief Executive Peter Damaris said in a statement. “We are trending to reduce our leverage ratio to below 2.5 times prior to the end of the third quarter. We believe that the repurchase program is currently an attractive way for us to return value to our stockholders and does not preclude us from pursuing attractive business development opportunities.” Shares closed down 28 cents or nearly 1 percent to $36.45 on the New York Stock Exchange.