Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) Shares Gap Down - Should You Sell?

Key Points

• Hewlett Packard Enterprise's shares gapped down from a closing price of $25.04 to an opening price of $22.97, with the latest trading price at $23.20.
• A recent earnings report indicated that the company missed analysts' expectations with $0.35 earnings per share versus a consensus of $0.44, despite a revenue increase of 19.8% year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.13 per share, with a dividend yield of 2.3% and a payout ratio of 63.41%.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company (NYSE:HPE - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped down before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $25.04, but opened at $22.97. Hewlett Packard Enterprise shares last traded at $23.20, with a volume of 18,333,844 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on HPE shares. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. They set a "peer perform" rating on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Hewlett Packard Enterprise in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $24.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $25.13.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Trading Down 10.4%

The business's 50 day simple moving average is $23.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $19.77. The stock has a market cap of $29.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.38, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, September 3rd. The technology company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.44 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $9.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.77 billion. Hewlett Packard Enterprise had a return on equity of 9.01% and a net margin of 3.77%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 19.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.50 EPS. Hewlett Packard Enterprise has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.880-1.920 EPS. Q4 2025 guidance at 0.560-0.600 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company will post 1.85 EPS for the current year.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 17th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 18th will be paid a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 18th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Hewlett Packard Enterprise's payout ratio is currently 63.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Maeve C. Culloty sold 3,738 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.12, for a total value of $93,898.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Gary M. Reiner sold 40,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.58, for a total transaction of $983,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 83,869 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,061,500.02. The trade was a 32.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 543,738 shares of company stock valued at $12,922,932 over the last 90 days. 0.36% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new position in Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the first quarter valued at $25,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise during the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT acquired a new position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise during the first quarter valued at about $27,000. CVA Family Office LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 126.7% during the second quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,437 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 803 shares during the period. Finally, MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise during the first quarter valued at about $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.78% of the company's stock.

About Hewlett Packard Enterprise

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.

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