Citigroup Initiates Coverage on Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE)

Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm issued a neutral rating and a $20.00 target price on the technology company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Barclays raised their price target on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $14.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. StockNews.com raised shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Susquehanna reaffirmed a neutral rating and issued a $20.00 price target on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Bank of America raised shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from a neutral rating to a buy rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $21.00 to $24.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Loop Capital raised their target price on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $21.31.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Stock Up 5.2 %

NYSE HPE opened at $19.86 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Hewlett Packard Enterprise has a 52 week low of $14.47 and a 52 week high of $22.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.42, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a fifty day moving average of $18.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $18.63.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The technology company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $7.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.67 billion. Hewlett Packard Enterprise had a net margin of 6.39% and a return on equity of 8.94%. The firm’s revenue was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.35 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Hewlett Packard Enterprise will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 19th will be issued a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.62%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 19th. Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.96%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hewlett Packard Enterprise news, EVP Neil B. Macdonald sold 29,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.00, for a total value of $493,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 82,061 shares in the company, valued at $1,395,037. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Hewlett Packard Enterprise

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Capital Investment Counsel Inc boosted its holdings in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 1.2% in the second quarter. Capital Investment Counsel Inc now owns 41,269 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $874,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 10,933 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $231,000 after purchasing an additional 501 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its position in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 111,617 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,363,000 after purchasing an additional 536 shares during the last quarter. Bailard Inc. increased its stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 35,349 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $748,000 after purchasing an additional 580 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co raised its holdings in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 0.5% in the second quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 119,347 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,527,000 after buying an additional 598 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.78% of the company’s stock.

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.