Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) Short Interest Up 92.8% in September

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) saw a large increase in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 40,030,000 shares, an increase of 92.8% from the August 31st total of 20,760,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 15,200,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.6 days. Approximately 3.1% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HPE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Argus raised Hewlett Packard Enterprise from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $26.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, June 7th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $21.00 price target on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in a report on Thursday, June 20th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Loop Capital increased their target price on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from $18.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $21.31.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Stock Performance

HPE stock traded down $0.21 during trading on Friday, hitting $20.14. The company had a trading volume of 10,396,804 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,995,072. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $18.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $18.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm has a market cap of $26.18 billion, a PE ratio of 14.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.19. Hewlett Packard Enterprise has a 1-year low of $14.47 and a 1-year high of $22.82.

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

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 19th will be paid a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 19th. Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.96%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Antonio F. Neri sold 83,334 shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.72, for a total value of $1,643,346.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,758,641 shares in the company, valued at $34,680,400.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Neil B. Macdonald sold 29,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.00, for a total value of $493,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 82,061 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,395,037. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Antonio F. Neri sold 83,334 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.72, for a total transaction of $1,643,346.48. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,758,641 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,680,400.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the second quarter valued at $28,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 571.5% in the second quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 1,343 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 1,143 shares during the period. Rise Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 253.9% during the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 1,465 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 1,051 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC grew its position in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 224.5% during the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 1,853 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 1,282 shares during the period. Finally, American National Bank increased its holdings in Hewlett Packard Enterprise by 89.4% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.78% of the company’s stock.

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.