ASGN Incorporated (NYSE:ASGN) shareholders might be concerned after seeing the share price drop 22% in the last quarter. But that doesn’t change the fact that the returns over the last five years have been very strong. Indeed, the share price is up an impressive 110% in that time. We think it’s more important to dwell on the long term returns than the short term returns. Ultimately business performance will determine whether the stock price continues the positive long term trend. While the long term returns are impressive, we do have some sympathy for those who bought more recently, given the 33% drop, in the last year.
Although ASGN has shed US$155m from its market cap this week, let’s take a look at its longer term fundamental trends and see if they’ve driven returns.
To paraphrase Benjamin Graham: Over the short term the market is a voting machine, but over the long term it’s a weighing machine. One way to examine how market sentiment has changed over time is to look at the interaction between a company’s share price and its earnings per share (EPS).
Over half a decade, ASGN managed to grow its earnings per share at 7.2% a year. This EPS growth is slower than the share price growth of 16% per year, over the same period. So it’s fair to assume the market has a higher opinion of the business than it did five years ago. That’s not necessarily surprising considering the five-year track record of earnings growth.
You can see below how EPS has changed over time (discover the exact values by clicking on the image).
Dive deeper into ASGN’s key metrics by checking this interactive graph of ASGN’s earnings, revenue and cash flow.
A Different Perspective
ASGN shareholders are down 33% for the year, but the market itself is up 11%. However, keep in mind that even the best stocks will sometimes underperform the market over a twelve month period. Longer term investors wouldn’t be so upset, since they would have made 16%, each year, over five years. It could be that the recent sell-off is an opportunity, so it may be worth checking the fundamental data for signs of a long term growth trend. While it is well worth considering the different impacts that market conditions can have on the share price, there are other factors that are even more important. Consider risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we’ve spotted 1 warning sign for ASGN you should know about.