ASGN Incorporated (NYSE:ASGN) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

ASGN Incorporated (NYSE:ASGN) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,700,000 shares, an increase of 6.9% from the October 31st total of 1,590,000 shares. Currently, 4.0% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 333,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.1 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ASGN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of ASGN from $95.00 to $88.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 9th. BMO Capital Markets raised ASGN from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $96.00 to $100.00 in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of ASGN in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $97.89.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Jonathan S. Holman sold 503 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.45, for a total value of $45,496.35. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 10,821 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $978,759.45. This represents a 4.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, President Randolph C. Blazer sold 10,000 shares of ASGN stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.03, for a total value of $950,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 85,923 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,165,262.69. This represents a 10.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 14,763 shares of company stock worth $1,398,986. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of ASGN

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Cim Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of ASGN in the 3rd quarter valued at about $205,000. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in shares of ASGN by 17.3% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of ASGN by 12.1% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. boosted its holdings in shares of ASGN by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 588,999 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $54,912,000 after purchasing an additional 39,607 shares during the period. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its position in shares of ASGN by 28.2% during the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 11,823 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,102,000 after purchasing an additional 2,600 shares during the last quarter. 95.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ASGN Stock Down 2.0 %

ASGN stock opened at $90.26 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $3.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.85 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 2.25 and a current ratio of 2.25. The business’s 50-day moving average is $93.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $92.72. ASGN has a fifty-two week low of $83.71 and a fifty-two week high of $106.42.

ASGN (NYSE:ASGN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.08. ASGN had a net margin of 4.37% and a return on equity of 13.65%. The company had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.68 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that ASGN will post 5.17 earnings per share for the current year.

ASGN Company Profile

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.