Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) Upgraded at Citigroup

Citigroup upgraded shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) to a strong-buy rating in a report published on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

HPE has been the topic of several other reports. KeyCorp started coverage on Hewlett Packard Enterprise in a report on Thursday, June 26th. They issued a “sector weight” rating on the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Raymond James Financial raised their price target on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Hewlett Packard Enterprise in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $21.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.67.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HPE opened at $20.71 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.91, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.35. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $19.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.50. Hewlett Packard Enterprise has a 12 month low of $11.97 and a 12 month high of $24.66.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 3rd. The technology company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.05. Hewlett Packard Enterprise had a net margin of 4.60% and a return on equity of 9.59%. The company had revenue of $7.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.42 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Hewlett Packard Enterprise will post 1.85 EPS for the current year.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th were given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.51%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 18th. Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.53%.

Insider Activity

In other Hewlett Packard Enterprise news, SVP Jeremy Cox sold 68,590 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.44, for a total transaction of $1,264,799.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Phil Mottram sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.54, for a total transaction of $616,200.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 42,427 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $871,450.58. The trade was a 41.42% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 128,590 shares of company stock worth $2,436,000. Corporate insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. TIAA Trust National Association raised its stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 15,423 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $329,000 after acquiring an additional 761 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP raised its stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 1,003,921 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $21,434,000 after purchasing an additional 77,244 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,078,218 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $45,347,000 after purchasing an additional 174,857 shares in the last quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 31.6% during the 4th quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 77,707 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,659,000 after buying an additional 18,667 shares during the period. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL lifted its holdings in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 20.2% in the 4th quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 69,097 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,475,000 after buying an additional 11,593 shares in the last quarter. 80.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company Profile

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company provides solutions that allow customers to capture, analyze, and act upon data seamlessly in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, and Japan. It operates in six segments: Compute, HPC & AI, Storage, Intelligent Edge, Financial Services, and Corporate Investments and Other.