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

ePlus inc. (NASDAQ:PLUS) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $93.37 and last traded at $91.71, with a volume of 13789 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $91.51.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on PLUS. Zacks Research raised ePlus from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Wall Street Zen upgraded ePlus from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, September 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of ePlus in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, ePlus has a consensus rating of “Buy”.

ePlus Trading Up 0.3%

The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $76.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $72.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.14.

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

ePlus Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 25th will be given 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 payout ratio is presently 21.69%.

Institutional Trading of ePlus

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PLUS. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. bought a new stake in ePlus during the third quarter worth about $802,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of ePlus by 790.1% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 34,012 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $2,415,000 after buying an additional 30,191 shares in the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its holdings in shares of ePlus by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 29,699 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $2,109,000 after buying an additional 748 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC lifted its position in ePlus by 143.7% in the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 20,708 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $1,470,000 after buying an additional 12,210 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its stake in ePlus by 79.8% in the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 33,023 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $2,345,000 after buying an additional 14,660 shares in the last quarter. 93.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.