Topic: Growth Stocks

HEWLETT-PACKARD ENTERPRISE CO. $18

HEWLETT-PACKARD ENTERPRISE CO. $18 (New York symbol HPE; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 1.7 billion; Market cap: $30.6 billion; Priceto- sales ratio: 0.6; Dividend yield: 1.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.hpe.com) sells computer servers and analytics software to businesses. It saw its earnings fall 14.9% in the quarter ended January 31, 2016, to $731 million from $859 million a year earlier. Per-share earnings declined 12.8%, to $0.41 from $0.47 on fewer shares outstanding. Revenue dipped 2.5%, to $12.7 billion from $13.1 billion. However, excluding currency rates, revenue rose 4%.

The company’s long-term debt of $15.2 billion is a high 50% of its market cap. It also holds cash of $8.5 billion, or $4.91 a share.

This new firm is in a strong position to profit as more businesses expand their e-commerce activities and buy cloud-based data storage services. The stock trades at 9.6 times the $1.88 a share it will probably earn in 2016. That low p/e reflects uncertainty over the growth of business spending on new technology this year. The $0.22 dividend yields 1.2%.

Hewlett-Packard Enterprise is a hold.

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