StockNews.com Upgrades ASGN (NYSE:ASGN) to Buy

ASGN (NYSE:ASGN) was upgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Monday.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets raised ASGN from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $96.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on ASGN from $95.00 to $88.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of ASGN in a report on Thursday, October 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $97.83.

ASGN Price Performance

ASGN traded down $0.22 during trading on Monday, reaching $83.47. 148,972 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 307,492. ASGN has a 12-month low of $82.04 and a 12-month high of $106.42. The company has a quick ratio of 2.25, a current ratio of 2.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The company has a market cap of $3.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.13 and a beta of 1.37. The company’s 50-day moving average is $90.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $91.70.

ASGN (NYSE:ASGN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.08. ASGN had a return on equity of 13.65% and a net margin of 4.37%. The business had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.68 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that ASGN will post 5.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other ASGN news, Director Carol Lindstrom sold 1,060 shares of ASGN stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.02, for a total transaction of $98,601.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,579 shares in the company, valued at approximately $425,938.58. The trade was a 18.80 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Theodore S. Hanson sold 1,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.64, for a total value of $119,568.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 288,855 shares in the company, valued at $28,781,512.20. This represents a 0.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,260 shares of company stock valued at $1,168,469 over the last quarter. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of ASGN

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ASGN. Reinhart Partners LLC. increased its holdings in shares of ASGN by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 588,999 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $54,912,000 after buying an additional 39,607 shares during the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its position in shares of ASGN by 28.2% during the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 11,823 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,102,000 after acquiring an additional 2,600 shares during the period. Argent Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in ASGN by 12.1% in the third quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC now owns 10,559 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $984,000 after purchasing an additional 1,142 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in ASGN by 17.3% in the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 5,414 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $505,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the period. Finally, Cim Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of ASGN in the 3rd quarter valued at about $205,000. 95.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About ASGN

ASGN Incorporated engages in the provision of information technology (IT) services and solutions in the technology, digital, and creative fields for commercial and government sectors in the United States, Canada, and Europe. It operates through two segments: Commercial and Federal Government. The Commercial Segment provides consulting, creative digital marketing, and permanent placement services primarily to enterprise clients.