Comerica Bank Raises Holdings in ePlus inc. $PLUS

Key Points

• Comerica Bank increased its holdings in ePlus inc. by 73.6% in the first quarter, acquiring 12,317 additional shares, bringing its total to approximately $1.77 million.
• ePlus recently declared a $0.25 quarterly dividend with an annualized yield of 1.4%, representing a payout ratio of 22.42%.
• Wall Street analysts have primarily rated ePlus as a "hold," with recent adjustments including an upgrade from Zacks and a downgrade from Wall Street Zen.

Comerica Bank lifted its holdings in shares of ePlus inc. (NASDAQ:PLUS - Free Report) by 73.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 29,048 shares of the software maker's stock after acquiring an additional 12,317 shares during the period. Comerica Bank owned approximately 0.11% of ePlus worth $1,773,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of PLUS. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in ePlus by 9.5% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 865,318 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $52,810,000 after purchasing an additional 74,986 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in ePlus by 532.0% during the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 85,192 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $6,294,000 after purchasing an additional 71,712 shares during the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its stake in ePlus by 94.0% during the 1st quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 141,414 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $8,630,000 after purchasing an additional 68,510 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in ePlus during the 1st quarter valued at about $3,922,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in ePlus by 44,179.4% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 62,434 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $3,810,000 after purchasing an additional 62,293 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.80% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Zacks Research upgraded ePlus from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, August 25th. Wall Street Zen downgraded ePlus from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, ePlus currently has an average rating of "Hold".

ePlus Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of PLUS opened at $71.04 on Wednesday. ePlus inc. has a 52 week low of $53.83 and a 52 week high of $106.98. The company has a market capitalization of $1.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.93, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.17. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $69.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $66.75.

ePlus Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 26th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 26th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. ePlus's dividend payout ratio is presently 22.42%.

ePlus Company Profile

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.

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