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

ASGN Incorporated (NYSE:ASGN) was the recipient of a large 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. Approximately 4.2% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 330,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.5 days.

ASGN Price Performance

NYSE:ASGN traded down $1.42 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $87.14. The stock had a trading volume of 275,805 shares, compared to its average volume of 306,579. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $92.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $92.31. 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 $83.71 and a 12 month high of $106.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.85 billion, a PE ratio of 22.05 and a beta of 1.37.

ASGN (NYSE:ASGN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. ASGN had a return on equity of 13.65% and a net margin of 4.37%. ASGN’s 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, equities analysts anticipate that ASGN will post 5.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on ASGN. BMO Capital Markets raised ASGN from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $96.00 to $100.00 in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of ASGN in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of ASGN from $95.00 to $88.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $97.83.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other ASGN news, President Randolph C. Blazer sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.03, for a total transaction of $950,300.00. Following the transaction, the president now owns 85,923 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,165,262.69. The trade was a 10.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through 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 sale, the director now owns 4,579 shares in the company, valued at $425,938.58. This represents a 18.80 % 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 in the last three months. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of ASGN

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cim Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of ASGN in the third quarter valued at approximately $205,000. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in ASGN by 17.3% during the 3rd 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. Argent Capital Management LLC increased its position in ASGN by 43.8% in 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 period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its stake in shares of ASGN by 28.2% during 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Reinhart Partners LLC. lifted its holdings 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 worth $54,912,000 after purchasing an additional 39,607 shares during the period. 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.