Short Interest in ASGN Incorporated (NYSE:ASGN) Grows By 6.9%

ASGN Incorporated (NYSE:ASGN) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in 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. Based on an average daily volume of 333,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.1 days. Approximately 4.0% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

ASGN Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE:ASGN opened at $92.07 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 2.25 and a current ratio of 2.25. ASGN has a 52 week low of $83.71 and a 52 week high of $106.42. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $93.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $92.79. The company has a market capitalization of $4.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.31 and a beta of 1.38.

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

Insider Transactions at ASGN

In other ASGN news, CEO Theodore S. Hanson sold 1,200 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 288,855 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,781,512.20. This represents a 0.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Carol Lindstrom sold 1,060 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.02, for a total value of $98,601.20. Following the completion of 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 14,763 shares of company stock valued at $1,398,986. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ASGN

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Reinhart Partners LLC. grew its stake in ASGN by 7.2% during the third quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 588,999 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $54,912,000 after acquiring an additional 39,607 shares in the last quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of ASGN by 43.8% during the 2nd quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC now owns 9,417 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $830,000 after acquiring an additional 2,868 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of ASGN by 1,851.6% in the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 19,887 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,753,000 after purchasing an additional 18,868 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in ASGN by 17.3% in the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 5,414 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $505,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised 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 buying an additional 2,600 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.36% of the company’s stock.

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.