Is MAXIMUS, Inc. (MMS) over-bought?

 Shares of MAXIMUS, Inc. (MMS)  are flying higher than Russell Crowe's carreer after Gladiator came out.

But will shares plummet like Russell Crowe's carreer after punching out Hollywood producer Malcolm Gerrie?

Last week, Maximus announced that its United Kingdom subsidiary, MAXIMUS Employment & Training, has signed a contract with the United Kingdom Department of Work & Pensions for the delivery of employment services in southeast England. The value of the five-year contract is estimated to be approximately $200 million (USD) and the program is expected to commence operations in October 2009.

The contract is part of the Flexible New Deal, one of the largest set of employment contracts in the United Kingdom. Under the contract,

MAXIMUS Employment & Training will deliver employment services for individuals in Surrey, Sussex, and Kent counties who have faced long-term unemployment for more than 12 months. MAXIMUS Employment & Training will manage over 100,000 customers over five years with the aim of achieving sustainable employment for clients. In addition, clients will receive support for addressing barriers to employment and training on a range of skills towards sustained employment.

“This new award establishes MAXIMUS Employment & Training as one of the major welfare to work providers in the United Kingdom,” commented MAXIMUS CEO Richard Montoni. “We first entered the UK market with the acquisition of Westcountry Training and Consultancy Services in August of 2008. The work of our exceptional staff enabled us to expand our core human services offerings in this important market. We will capitalize on our proven best practices from our domestic and Australian workforce services programs to drive success in the United Kingdom Government’s Flexible New Deal program.”

Fellow Masters, shares of Maximus are up for a reason. The $200m deal they inked is huge. The company has zero debt, but is trading at a high multiple. I'm leaning towards overbought; if mother market decides to crash, look for shares to drop significantly. There is little upside potential and a lot of downside risk in the stock. However, if it does drop back down to the $30-$35 range, look to scoop some up.