Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) versus ASGN (NYSE:ASGN) Head-To-Head Review

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

Insider & Institutional Ownership

95.4% of ASGN shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 76.1% of Leidos shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.4% of ASGN shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of Leidos shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility & Risk

ASGN has a beta of 0.98, suggesting that its share price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Leidos has a beta of 0.71, suggesting that its share price is 29% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
ASGN	3.50%	11.90%	5.98%
Leidos	8.22%	33.57%	11.45%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for ASGN and Leidos, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
ASGN	2	3	2	0	2.00
Leidos	0	6	8	1	2.67

ASGN presently has a consensus target price of $61.67, indicating a potential upside of 25.42%. Leidos has a consensus target price of $183.31, indicating a potential downside of 2.39%. Given ASGN’s higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe ASGN is more favorable than Leidos.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares ASGN and Leidos”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
ASGN	$4.10 billion	0.53	$175.20 million	$3.16	15.56
Leidos	$17.05 billion	1.41	$1.25 billion	$10.58	17.75

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

Summary

Leidos beats ASGN on 11 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 Leidos

Leidos Holdings, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides services and solutions in the defense, intelligence, civil, and health markets in the United States and internationally. The company operates through Defense Solutions, Civil, and Health segments. The Defense Solutions segment offers national security solutions and systems for air, land, sea, space, and cyberspace for the U.S. Intelligence Community, the Department of Defense, the space development agency, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, defense information systems agency, military services, and government agencies of U.S. allies abroad, as well as other federal and commercial customers in the national security industry. The solutions include technology, large-scale systems, command and control platforms, data analytics, logistics, and cybersecurity solutions, as well as intelligence analysis and operations support services to critical missions. The Civil segment provides systems integration services to air navigation service providers, including the federal aviation administration, the En route automation modernization, advanced technology oceanic procedure, time based flow management, terminal flight data management, geo-7, and future flight services, as well as enterprise-information display systems; and security detection services. It also offers information technology (IT) solutions in cloud computing, mobility, application modernization, DevOps, data center, network modernization, asset management, help desk operations, and digital workplace enablement; and environment, energy, and infrastructure services. The Health segment offers solutions to federal and commercial customers responsible for health and well-being of people, include health information management, managed health, digital modernization, and life sciences research and development services. Leidos Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1969 and is headquartered in Reston, Virginia.