StockNews.com Upgrades ePlus (NASDAQ:PLUS) to “Buy”

ePlus (NASDAQ:PLUS) was upgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Thursday.

ePlus Price Performance

ePlus stock opened at $61.93 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $69.76 and its 200 day moving average is $80.93. ePlus has a one year low of $61.17 and a one year high of $106.98. The firm has a market cap of $1.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 1.83 and a quick ratio of 1.69.

ePlus (NASDAQ:PLUS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The software maker reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by ($0.37). ePlus had a return on equity of 11.23% and a net margin of 4.93%. As a group, research analysts expect that ePlus will post 3.78 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PLUS. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in ePlus by 91.1% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 342 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of ePlus by 6,140.0% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 312 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 307 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in shares of ePlus by 256.8% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 421 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 303 shares during the period. Quarry LP increased its stake in shares of ePlus by 1,000.0% in the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 473 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 430 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of ePlus during the 4th quarter valued at $60,000. 93.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About ePlus

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.