Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Makes New Investment in Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE)

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI bought a new stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 11,216 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $237,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Capital Investment Counsel Inc boosted its stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 1.2% during the second quarter. Capital Investment Counsel Inc now owns 41,269 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $874,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 4.8% during the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 10,933 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $231,000 after purchasing an additional 501 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 0.5% during the second quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 111,617 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,363,000 after purchasing an additional 536 shares during the period. Bailard Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 1.7% during the second quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 35,349 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $748,000 after purchasing an additional 580 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 10.1% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,806 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $116,000 after purchasing an additional 626 shares during the period. 80.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Bank of America upgraded Hewlett Packard Enterprise from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $21.00 to $24.00 in a report on Tuesday. Susquehanna restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $20.00 price objective on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in a report on Friday, September 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $18.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Hewlett Packard Enterprise currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $21.08.

Insider Transactions at Hewlett Packard Enterprise

In related news, EVP Neil B. Macdonald sold 29,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.00, for a total value of $493,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 82,061 shares in the company, valued at $1,395,037. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Stock Performance

Shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise stock opened at $18.85 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $24.50 billion, a PE ratio of 13.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.94. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $18.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $18.61. Hewlett Packard Enterprise has a one year low of $14.47 and a one year high of $22.82.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The technology company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.03. Hewlett Packard Enterprise had a net margin of 6.39% and a return on equity of 8.94%. The business had revenue of $7.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.67 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.35 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Hewlett Packard Enterprise will post 1.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 19th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.76%. Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s payout ratio is 37.96%.

About Hewlett Packard Enterprise

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.