ASGN Incorporated (NYSE:ASGN) Short Interest Up 6.5% in November

ASGN Incorporated (NYSE:ASGN - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,810,000 shares, a growth of 6.5% from the November 15th total of 1,700,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 330,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.5 days. Approximately 4.2% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on ASGN. BMO Capital Markets upgraded ASGN from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price objective for the stock 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 price target on shares of ASGN in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $97.83.

Insider Activity

In other ASGN news, Director Carol Lindstrom sold 1,060 shares of the firm'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 transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, President Randolph C. Blazer sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.03, for a total transaction of $950,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 85,923 shares in the company, valued at $8,165,262.69. This trade represents a 10.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ASGN

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Reinhart Partners LLC. raised its stake in ASGN by 7.2% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of ASGN by 43.8% during the second quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC now owns 9,417 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $830,000 after buying an additional 2,868 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 2,600 shares during the last quarter. Cim Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of ASGN in the third quarter worth about $205,000. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.36% of the company's stock.

ASGN Price Performance

NYSE ASGN traded down $1.42 on Tuesday, hitting $87.14. The company had a trading volume of 275,805 shares, compared to its average volume of 306,579. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 2.25 and a quick ratio of 2.25. The company's fifty day moving average price is $92.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $92.31. The company has a market capitalization of $3.85 billion, a PE ratio of 22.05 and a beta of 1.37. ASGN has a 12-month low of $83.71 and a 12-month high of $106.42.

ASGN (NYSE:ASGN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $1.03 billion during 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%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.68 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, 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.

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