ASGN (NYSE:EFOR) Upgraded at Jefferies Financial Group

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group upgraded ASGN from underperform to hold and set a $22 price target, implying modest upside from the current share price.
• ASGN remains under a generally cautious Wall Street view: the stock’s consensus rating is “Reduce” with an average target price of $29.33, and multiple firms have recently cut ratings or lowered targets.
• The company reported Q1 earnings of $0.69 per share, missing estimates of $0.97, while revenue was $968.3 million and unchanged year over year; ASGN also saw insider buying, including purchases by its CAO and a director.

ASGN (NYSE:EFOR - Get Free Report) was upgraded by Jefferies Financial Group from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday. The firm presently has a $22.00 target price on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group's price target points to a potential upside of 5.77% from the stock's current price.

EFOR has been the topic of a number of other reports. Weiss Ratings downgraded ASGN from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "sell (d)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen downgraded ASGN from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, March 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on ASGN from $54.00 to $33.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Zacks Research downgraded ASGN from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Truist Financial downgraded ASGN from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $60.00 to $33.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $29.33.

ASGN Trading Up 3.7%

Shares of ASGN stock opened at $20.80 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.10, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. ASGN has a 52-week low of $16.90 and a 52-week high of $60.75. The stock has a market cap of $854.88 million, a PE ratio of 9.20 and a beta of 0.46.

ASGN (NYSE:EFOR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The company reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.28). ASGN had a net margin of 2.46% and a return on equity of 10.30%. The business had revenue of $968.30 million during the quarter. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.92 EPS. ASGN's quarterly revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. ASGN has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.720-0.900 EPS. Equities analysts expect that ASGN will post 3.39 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at ASGN

In other news, CAO Rose Cunningham purchased 1,125 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $22.27 per share, for a total transaction of $25,053.75. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief accounting officer directly owned 15,587 shares of the company's stock, valued at $347,122.49. The trade was a 7.78% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Brian J. Callaghan purchased 5,121 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 27th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $20.27 per share, with a total value of $103,802.67. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 328,950 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,667,816.50. The trade was a 1.58% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders acquired a total of 91,375 shares of company stock valued at $1,770,367 over the last three months. Insiders own 3.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ASGN

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in ASGN by 85.3% during the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 543 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in ASGN by 97.8% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 542 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. Torren Management LLC acquired a new stake in ASGN during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Rothschild Investment LLC grew its stake in shares of ASGN by 119.0% in the fourth quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 1,014 shares of the company's stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 551 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of ASGN by 190.8% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,390 shares of the company's stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 912 shares in the last quarter. 95.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ASGN Company Profile

ASGN is a provider of professional services that connects skilled talent with organizations seeking technology, digital, creative and engineering expertise. The firm focuses on staffing and workforce solutions, delivering contract and permanent placement services as well as project-based consulting and managed services to support clients’ technical and operational needs.

Its offerings commonly include IT consulting, digital transformation support, application development and maintenance, data and analytics, cybersecurity, cloud services and engineering resources.

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