Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) Shares Gap Up on Strong Earnings

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock had previously closed at $17.69, but opened at $19.17. Hewlett Packard Enterprise shares last traded at $17.74, with a volume of 11,294,150 shares traded.

The technology company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.05. Hewlett Packard Enterprise had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 8.56%. The business had revenue of $7.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.51 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.42 EPS. Hewlett Packard Enterprise's revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.93%. Hewlett Packard Enterprise's payout ratio is 25.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HPE has been the topic of several recent research reports. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered Hewlett Packard Enterprise from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $16.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Evercore ISI upgraded Hewlett Packard Enterprise from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $17.00 to $22.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Bank of America cut their price objective on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $26.00 to $20.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Loop Capital cut their price objective on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $24.00 to $16.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $21.33.

Insider Activity at Hewlett Packard Enterprise

In related news, Director Bethany Mayer sold 6,409 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.19, for a total transaction of $84,534.71. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.36% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Hara Capital LLC bought a new stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Tandem Financial LLC bought a new stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise during the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Institutional investors own 80.78% of the company's stock.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Stock Down 0.4%

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $16.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $19.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The firm has a market cap of $23.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.29.

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.