ASGN (NYSE:ASGN) vs. CDW (NASDAQ:CDW) Head to Head Contrast

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

Risk & Volatility

ASGN has a beta of 0.96, indicating that its stock price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, CDW has a beta of 1.03, indicating that its stock price is 3% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
ASGN	$3.99 billion	0.48	$175.20 million	$2.97	15.16
CDW	$21.00 billion	0.89	$1.08 billion	$7.92	18.21

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for ASGN and CDW, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
ASGN	3	3	1	0	1.71
CDW	0	5	2	1	2.50

ASGN presently has a consensus price target of $46.60, indicating a potential upside of 3.50%. CDW has a consensus price target of $189.86, indicating a potential upside of 31.64%. Given CDW’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe CDW is more favorable than ASGN.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
ASGN	3.28%	11.42%	5.68%
CDW	4.76%	51.89%	8.35%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

95.4% of ASGN shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 93.2% of CDW shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.4% of ASGN shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.8% of CDW shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

CDW beats ASGN on 13 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 CDW

CDW Corporation provides information technology (IT) solutions in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada. It operates through three segments: Corporate, Small Business, and Public. The company offers discrete hardware and software products and services, as well as integrated IT solutions, including on-premise and cloud capabilities across hybrid infrastructure, digital experience, and security. It also provides hardware products comprising notebooks/mobile devices, tablets, network communications, desktop computers, collaboration, data storage and servers, and others; and software products, such as cloud solutions, software assurance, application suites, security, virtualization, operating systems, and network management. In addition, the company offers advisory and design, software development, implementation, managed, professional, configuration, partner, and telecom services, as well as warranties; delivers and manages mission critical software, systems, and network solutions; and implementation and installation, and repair services to its customers through various third-party service providers. It serves government, education, and healthcare customers; and small, medium, and large business customers. CDW Corporation was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in Vernon Hills, Illinois.