Short Interest in ASGN Incorporated (NYSE:ASGN) Rises By 6.5%

ASGN Incorporated (NYSE:ASGN) was the target 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. Currently, 4.6% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 348,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.6 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ASGN has been the subject of several analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of 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 research report on Friday, November 22nd. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of ASGN in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, StockNews.com cut ASGN from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $101.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Carol Lindstrom sold 1,060 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.02, for a total transaction of $98,601.20. Following 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Theodore S. Hanson sold 1,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $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 sold 12,260 shares of company stock valued at $1,168,469 over the last ninety days. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ASGN

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Reinhart Partners LLC. boosted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 39,607 shares in the last quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC lifted its position in ASGN by 31.6% during the fourth quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC now owns 13,898 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,158,000 after buying an additional 3,339 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its holdings 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. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its position 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 worth $505,000 after buying an additional 800 shares during the period. Finally, Cim Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of ASGN in the 3rd quarter worth about $205,000. Institutional investors own 95.36% of the company’s stock.

ASGN Trading Down 0.9 %

NYSE:ASGN traded down $0.81 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $88.50. 311,355 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 283,786. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $87.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $91.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.40 and a beta of 1.38. 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 has a 12-month low of $82.04 and a 12-month high of $106.42.

ASGN (NYSE:ASGN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.03 billion. ASGN had a return on equity of 13.65% and a net margin of 4.37%. The business’s revenue was down 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.68 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict 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.