Contrasting ASGN (NYSE:ASGN) and Vertiv (NYSE:VRT)

ASGN (NYSE:ASGN) and Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, risk, valuation, institutional ownership, earnings and profitability.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares ASGN and Vertiv”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
ASGN	$4.10 billion	0.52	$175.20 million	$3.16	15.49
Vertiv	$8.01 billion	6.66	$495.80 million	$2.09	66.88

Vertiv has higher revenue and earnings than ASGN. ASGN is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Vertiv, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares ASGN and Vertiv’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
ASGN	3.50%	11.90%	5.98%
Vertiv	8.93%	51.64%	13.69%

Risk and Volatility

ASGN has a beta of 0.98, meaning that its stock price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Vertiv has a beta of 1.77, meaning that its stock price is 77% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for ASGN and Vertiv, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
ASGN	2	2	2	0	2.00
Vertiv	0	3	18	1	2.91

ASGN currently has a consensus price target of $61.6667, suggesting a potential upside of 26.02%. Vertiv has a consensus price target of $144.0556, suggesting a potential upside of 3.06%. Given ASGN’s higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe ASGN is more favorable than Vertiv.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

95.4% of ASGN shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 89.9% of Vertiv shares are held by institutional investors. 3.4% of ASGN shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 5.0% of Vertiv shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Vertiv beats ASGN on 12 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

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. This segment also offers workforce mobilization, modern enterprise, and digital innovation IT consulting services; and cloud, data and analytics, and digital transformation solutions. The Federal Government Segment provides mission-critical solutions to the department of defense, intelligence communities, and federal civilian agencies. This segment offers cloud, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, machine learning, application and IT modernization, and science and engineering solutions. The company was formerly known as On Assignment, Inc. and changed its name to ASGN Incorporated in April 2018. ASGN Incorporated was founded in 1985 and is based in Glen Allen, Virginia.

About Vertiv

Vertiv Holdings Co, together with its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and services critical digital infrastructure technologies and life cycle services for data centers, communication networks, and commercial and industrial environments in the Americas, the Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. It offers AC and DC power management products, switchgear and busbar products, thermal management products, integrated rack systems, modular solutions, and management systems for monitoring and controlling digital infrastructure that are integral to the technologies used for various services, including e-commerce, online banking, file sharing, video on-demand, energy storage, wireless communications, Internet of Things, and online gaming. The company also provides lifecycle management services, predictive analytics, and professional services for deploying, maintaining, and optimizing its products and their related systems; and preventative maintenance, acceptance testing, engineering and consulting, performance assessments, remote monitoring, training, spare parts, and digital critical infrastructure software services. It offers its products primarily under the Vertiv, Liebert, NetSure, Geist, E&I, Powerbar, and Avocent brands. The company serves cloud services, financial services, healthcare, transportation, manufacturing, energy, education, government, social media, and retail industries through a network of direct sales professionals, independent sales representatives, channel partners, and original equipment manufacturers. Vertiv Holdings Co is headquartered in Westerville, Ohio.