Thursday's Top Performing Small Cap Stocks (SFN, ATX, CTIC, SCHL, ASGN)
The weekly jobless claims rose again and remained
above 400,000, which is not a good sign. But that didn't stop Dutch
staffing giant Randstad from offering $771 million for SFN Group
(NYSE: SFN), an American competitor.
The deal will double Randstad's U.S. presence. SFN's stock led all small caps with a 51.1 percent increase on the day.
Expecting other consolidations in the staffing business, traders also bid up On Assignment (Nasdaq: ASGN) 10.9 percent, making it one of the better-performing small caps.
[ More » ]
The deal will double Randstad's U.S. presence. SFN's stock led all small caps with a 51.1 percent increase on the day.
Expecting other consolidations in the staffing business, traders also bid up On Assignment (Nasdaq: ASGN) 10.9 percent, making it one of the better-performing small caps.
On Assignment: Answering the call
On Assignment Inc. (Nasdaq:ASGN) has a hire calling, preaching the gospel of contract employment among health-care and technical professionals. Despite the gloomy U.S. jobs picture, On Assignment continues to eke out surprising results.
Rather than trying to find work for everyone - including manufacturing or manual labor that Manpower Inc. (NYSE:MAN) and others provide - On Assignment has chosen to aim higher. It focuses on specialty skills for short-term and sometimes permanent assignments in health care, including physicians and nurses, life sciences and clinical research, engineering and IT staffing. It has just a smattering of international operations.
Founded in 1985, the Calabasas, Calif., company has 60 branches in the United States. On Assignment went public 16 years ago.
Of the five analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters, two have On Assignment rated "strong buy," two call it a "buy," with the other ranking "hold." The median price target is $11.50 - just above the 52-week high of $11.42, hit on Aug. 22. On Assignment dropped to $4.32 on Jan. 24, but closed Friday at $9.27, down from its recent highs but up roughly one-third year-to-date.
"The overall job market has not been good for a while, but On Assignment has been squeaking out some improvement each quarter," said Tobey Sommer, a SunTrust Robinson Humphrey analyst who rates the stock a "buy," in an interview.
For the quarter ended June 30, On Assignment beat analysts' expectations, as revenue increased 8.5% to $156.1 million, and net income more than doubled to . . .
[ More » ]
Rather than trying to find work for everyone - including manufacturing or manual labor that Manpower Inc. (NYSE:MAN) and others provide - On Assignment has chosen to aim higher. It focuses on specialty skills for short-term and sometimes permanent assignments in health care, including physicians and nurses, life sciences and clinical research, engineering and IT staffing. It has just a smattering of international operations.
Founded in 1985, the Calabasas, Calif., company has 60 branches in the United States. On Assignment went public 16 years ago.
Of the five analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters, two have On Assignment rated "strong buy," two call it a "buy," with the other ranking "hold." The median price target is $11.50 - just above the 52-week high of $11.42, hit on Aug. 22. On Assignment dropped to $4.32 on Jan. 24, but closed Friday at $9.27, down from its recent highs but up roughly one-third year-to-date.
"The overall job market has not been good for a while, but On Assignment has been squeaking out some improvement each quarter," said Tobey Sommer, a SunTrust Robinson Humphrey analyst who rates the stock a "buy," in an interview.
For the quarter ended June 30, On Assignment beat analysts' expectations, as revenue increased 8.5% to $156.1 million, and net income more than doubled to . . .
