Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) Short Interest Up 7.3% in April

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 29,790,000 shares, an increase of 7.3% from the March 31st total of 27,770,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 14,980,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.0 days. Currently, 2.3% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Stock Down 3.3 %

Shares of NYSE:HPE opened at $16.44 on Thursday. Hewlett Packard Enterprise has a 12-month low of $13.65 and a 12-month high of $20.07. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $17.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $16.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The firm has a market cap of $21.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.34, a PEG ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 1.20.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The technology company reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $6.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.09 billion. Hewlett Packard Enterprise had a net margin of 6.81% and a return on equity of 9.12%. Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s revenue was down 13.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.38 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Hewlett Packard Enterprise will post 1.4 EPS for the current year.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.16%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.86%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HPE has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 1st. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $19.00 to $18.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Hewlett Packard Enterprise from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $20.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hewlett Packard Enterprise has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $17.91.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hewlett Packard Enterprise

In other news, SVP Jeremy Cox sold 18,323 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.96, for a total value of $310,758.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 15,541 shares in the company, valued at approximately $263,575.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hewlett Packard Enterprise

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Rise Advisors LLC boosted its position in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 253.9% during the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 1,465 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,051 shares during the period. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the third quarter worth about $31,000. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE acquired a new stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the third quarter valued at about $33,000. American National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 89.4% during the 1st quarter. American National Bank now owns 1,949 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 920 shares during the period. Finally, Salem Investment Counselors Inc. lifted its position in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 180.1% during the 4th quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 1,961 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 1,261 shares in the last quarter. 80.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.