ePlus (NASDAQ:PLUS) Hits New 1-Year High – What’s Next?

Shares of ePlus inc. (NASDAQ:PLUS) hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $91.00 and last traded at $89.85, with a volume of 12540 shares. The stock had previously closed at $89.78.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on PLUS shares. Zacks Research upgraded ePlus from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 25th. Wall Street Zen raised ePlus from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, September 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of ePlus in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, ePlus currently has an average rating of “Hold”.

ePlus Stock Up 1.8%

The company has a market cap of $2.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.50, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $73.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $70.69.

ePlus (NASDAQ:PLUS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The software maker reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.58. ePlus had a net margin of 5.47% and a return on equity of 11.03%. The company had revenue of $608.83 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $518.30 million. On average, research analysts expect that ePlus inc. will post 3.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ePlus Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 25th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 25th. ePlus’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.69%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ePlus

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of PLUS. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in ePlus in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in ePlus by 47.8% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 439 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC bought a new position in ePlus in the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its stake in shares of ePlus by 361.9% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 448 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 351 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quaker Wealth Management LLC raised its position in ePlus by 200.0% in the second quarter. Quaker Wealth Management LLC now owns 525 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 1,050 shares during the last quarter. 93.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.