As part of his Commercial IT Services outlook for 2020, Wells Fargo analyst Ed Caso upgraded Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH) to Overweight from Equal Weight and downgraded both DXC Technology (DXC) and ExlService (EXLS) to Underweight from Equal Weight. The analyst looks for a positive backdrop for information technology / business process outsourcing providers in 2020 as the "massive digital transformation market gains momentum globally with contract sizes rising and pricing remaining favorable." The analyst's focus stocks for 2020 are ASGN (ASGN), Cognizant, Epam Systems (EPAM) and Genpact (G). He favors Epam given its pure-play bias to one of the hottest areas, software engineering, believes Cognizant is the best "value" opportunity, and likes Genpact for its improved positioning and "under-owned" status. Caso expects provider specific issues to be the primary differentiators to business and share price performance in 2020.

Baird raised the firm's price target on ASGN to $104 from $99 and keeps a Neutral rating on the shares. The firm said they continue to do an excellent job of managing elements within its control maintaining very solid margins in a tepid, though relatively stable environment.