ASGN Incorporated (NYSE:ASGN) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

ASGN Incorporated (NYSE:ASGN) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,960,000 shares, a growth of 6.5% from the December 15th total of 1,840,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 348,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.6 days. Currently, 4.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on ASGN. StockNews.com lowered ASGN from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of ASGN in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised shares of ASGN from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $96.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $101.75.

ASGN Price Performance

Shares of ASGN opened at $88.50 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $87.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $91.58. The stock has a market cap of $3.91 billion, a PE ratio of 22.40 and a beta of 1.38. ASGN has a 1-year low of $82.04 and a 1-year high of $106.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 2.25 and a quick ratio of 2.25.

ASGN (NYSE:ASGN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.68 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that ASGN will post 5.17 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at ASGN

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

Institutional Trading of ASGN

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ASGN. Reinhart Partners LLC. boosted its holdings in ASGN by 7.2% in the third quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 588,999 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $54,912,000 after purchasing an additional 39,607 shares during the period. Argent Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of ASGN by 31.6% during the fourth quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC now owns 13,898 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,158,000 after buying an additional 3,339 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its position in shares of ASGN by 17.3% during the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 5,414 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $505,000 after buying an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its holdings in ASGN by 28.2% in the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 11,823 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,102,000 after acquiring an additional 2,600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cim Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in ASGN in the third quarter worth approximately $205,000. 95.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.