ASGN (NYSE:ASGN) Cut to "Hold" at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• ASGN has been downgraded from a "buy" to a "hold" rating by Wall Street Zen, reflecting a shift in analyst sentiment about the company's prospects.
• Wells Fargo and other analysts have lowered their price targets for ASGN, with estimates now ranging from $42.00 to $55.00, indicating caution among investors.
• ASGN reported better-than-expected earnings of $1.17 per share, surpassing the consensus estimate of $1.08, though revenue decreased by 1.4% year-over-year.

ASGN (NYSE:ASGN - Get Free Report) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note issued on Sunday.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on ASGN. Jefferies Financial Group reissued an "underperform" rating and issued a $42.00 price objective (down from $53.00) on shares of ASGN in a report on Monday, July 7th. UBS Group decreased their price target on ASGN from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on ASGN from $105.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on ASGN from $56.00 to $51.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $55.00 price target (down from $115.00) on shares of ASGN in a report on Friday, April 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, ASGN presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $61.67.

ASGN Stock Down 2.4%

Shares of ASGN stock traded down $1.27 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $50.84. 128,409 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 531,821. The business's fifty day moving average is $50.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $59.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 2.11 and a quick ratio of 2.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.09 and a beta of 0.98. ASGN has a 12-month low of $46.63 and a 12-month high of $101.66.

ASGN (NYSE:ASGN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $994.64 million. ASGN had a return on equity of 11.90% and a net margin of 3.50%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.36 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that ASGN will post 5.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ASGN. Pinebridge Investments L.P. increased its position in shares of ASGN by 42.7% in the fourth quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. now owns 21,983 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,832,000 after buying an additional 6,576 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of ASGN by 47,970.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 65,856 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $41,500,000 after buying an additional 65,719 shares in the last quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. increased its position in shares of ASGN by 13.4% in the first quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 665,987 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $41,971,000 after buying an additional 78,794 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of ASGN in the first quarter valued at $396,000. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP increased its position in shares of ASGN by 105.5% in the first quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 7,378 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $465,000 after buying an additional 3,788 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.36% of the company's stock.

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.