ePlus (NASDAQ:PLUS) Shares Gap Up After Dividend Announcement

Key Points

• ePlus shares experienced a notable gap up following a dividend announcement, opening at $68.45 after closing at $63.30.
• The company declared a dividend of $0.25 per share, which will be paid on September 17th, with a yield of 1.4%.
• Analysts have downgraded ePlus from a "buy" to a "hold" rating, impacting investor sentiment in light of the recent stock performance.

ePlus inc. (NASDAQ:PLUS - Get Free Report) gapped up before the market opened on Friday following a dividend announcement from the company. The stock had previously closed at $63.30, but opened at $68.45. ePlus shares last traded at $69.72, with a volume of 72,386 shares traded.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Wednesday, September 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 26th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 26th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Wall Street Zen downgraded ePlus from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th.

ePlus Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 1.71 and a quick ratio of 1.56. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $69.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $67.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.84 billion, a PE ratio of 15.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.14.

ePlus (NASDAQ:PLUS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The software maker reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.08. ePlus had a return on equity of 11.20% and a net margin of 5.47%. The firm had revenue of $498.11 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $523.85 million. Equities research analysts expect that ePlus inc. will post 3.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ePlus

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PLUS. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ePlus in the fourth quarter worth approximately $127,898,000. Mirabella Financial Services LLP purchased a new stake in shares of ePlus in the fourth quarter worth approximately $43,517,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. bought a new position in ePlus in the fourth quarter worth approximately $15,590,000. Swedbank AB grew its stake in ePlus by 116.7% in the first quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 325,000 shares of the software maker's stock worth $19,835,000 after purchasing an additional 175,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in ePlus by 103.1% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 226,399 shares of the software maker's stock worth $13,817,000 after purchasing an additional 114,900 shares in the last quarter. 93.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About ePlus

ePlus inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides information technology (IT) solutions that enable organizations to optimize their IT environment and supply chain processes in the United States and internationally. It operates through two segments, Technology and Financing. The Technology segment offers hardware, perpetual and subscription software, maintenance, software assurance, and internally provided and outsourced services; managed services or infrastructure and cloud; and enhanced maintenance support, service desk, storage-as-a-service, cloud hosted and managed, and managed security services; and professional, staff augmentation, cloud consulting, consulting, and security services.