ePlus (NASDAQ:PLUS) Reaches New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

ePlus Stock Up 1.8%

The company has a market capitalization 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 simple moving average of $73.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $70.69.

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

ePlus Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Trading of ePlus

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PLUS. Argent Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of ePlus by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC now owns 20,703 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $1,470,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the period. Campbell Newman Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of ePlus by 0.4% during the third quarter. Campbell Newman Asset Management Inc. now owns 34,210 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $2,429,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 142 shares during the period. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in ePlus by 33.6% during the first quarter. Quarry LP now owns 632 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vista Finance LLC raised its stake in shares of ePlus by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Vista Finance LLC now owns 4,794 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $346,000 after buying an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.80% of the company’s stock.

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.