ASGN Incorporated (NYSE:ASGN) Short Interest Up 9.6% in August

ASGN Incorporated (NYSE:ASGN) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,490,000 shares, a growth of 9.6% from the August 15th total of 1,360,000 shares. Approximately 3.4% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 361,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.1 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ASGN has been the subject of several recent research reports. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of ASGN in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on ASGN from $95.00 to $88.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, ASGN has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $97.22.

Insider Activity at ASGN

In other ASGN news, Director Arshad Matin sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.51, for a total transaction of $185,020.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 11,645 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,077,278.95. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Arshad Matin sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.51, for a total value of $185,020.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,645 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,077,278.95. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Jonathan S. Holman sold 503 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.45, for a total value of $45,496.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 10,821 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $978,759.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ASGN. Argent Capital Management LLC increased its stake in ASGN by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC now owns 5,917 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $569,000 after buying an additional 484 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in 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 valued at $1,753,000 after purchasing an additional 18,868 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in ASGN in the 1st quarter valued at $154,000. Reinhart Partners LLC. lifted its holdings in ASGN by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 548,300 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $57,440,000 after purchasing an additional 4,931 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in ASGN during the 1st quarter worth $512,000. 95.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ASGN Price Performance

ASGN stock traded down $0.42 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $92.09. 282,915 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 295,794. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 2.34 and a quick ratio of 2.34. ASGN has a 12-month low of $76.70 and a 12-month high of $106.42. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $93.59 and its 200 day moving average is $95.26. The company has a market cap of $4.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 14.49 and a beta of 1.40.

ASGN (NYSE:ASGN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The business services provider reported $1.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.05 billion. ASGN had a net margin of 4.56% and a return on equity of 14.30%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.59 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that ASGN will post 5.17 EPS 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.