ePlus (NASDAQ:PLUS) Upgraded to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of ePlus (NASDAQ:PLUS) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report report published on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

PLUS has been the subject of a number of other reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of ePlus in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen raised ePlus from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, September 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy”.

ePlus Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of ePlus stock opened at $89.31 on Tuesday. ePlus has a 12-month low of $53.83 and a 12-month high of $92.66. The company has a market capitalization of $2.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.02, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.14. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $75.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $71.76.

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

ePlus Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 25th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. ePlus’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.69%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ePlus

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of ePlus in the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in ePlus by 47.8% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 439 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the period. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC bought a new position in shares of ePlus during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its position in shares of ePlus by 361.9% during the 2nd 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 period. Finally, Quaker Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of ePlus by 200.0% in the 2nd quarter. Quaker Wealth Management LLC now owns 525 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 1,050 shares in 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.