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Chart of the Day: ePlus - Software Solutions
The Chart of the Day belongs to the software solutions company ePlus (PLUS) . I found the stock by using Barchart's powerful screening functions to find stocks with the highest technical buy signals, highest Weighted Alpha, superior current momentum and having a Trend Seeker buy signal then used the Flipchart feature to review the charts for consistent price appreciation. Since the Trend Seeker signaled a buy on 12/6 the stock gained 14.02%.
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 in two segments, Technology and Financing. The Technology segment offers hardware, perpetual and subscription software, maintenance, software assurance, and internally provided and outsourced services; and professional and managed services, including managed, professional, security solutions, cloud consulting and hosting, staff augmentation, storage-as-a-service, server and desktop support, and project management services. The Financing segment engages in financing arrangements, such as sales-type and operating leases; loans and consumption-based financing arrangements; and underwriting, management, and disposal of IT equipment and assets. Its financing operations comprise sales, pricing, credit, contracts, accounting, and risk and asset management. This segment primarily finances IT, communication-related, and medical equipment; and industrial machinery and equipment, office furniture and general office equipment, transportation equipment, and other general business equipment directly, as well as through vendors. ePlus inc. serves commercial entities, state and local governments, government contractors, healthcare, and educational institutions. The company was formerly known as MLC Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to ePlus inc. in 1999. ePlus inc. was founded in 1990 and is headquartered in Herndon, Virginia.
Barchart's Opinion Trading systems are listed below. Please note that the Barchart Opinion indicators are updated live during the session every 20 minutes and can therefore change during the day as the market fluctuates. The indicator numbers shown below therefore may not match what you see live on the Barchart.com website when you read this report.
Barchart Technical Indicators:
- 100% technical buy signals
- 80.60+ Weighted Alpha
- 77.32% gain in the last year
- Trend Seeker buy signal
- Above its 20, 50 and 100 day moving averages
- 17 new highs and up 25.26% in the last month
- Relative Strength Index 84.01%
- Technical support level at $75.06
- Recently traded at $76.62 with 50 day moving average of $65.07
Fundamental Factors:
- Market Cap $2.06 billion
- P/E 14.87
- Revenue expected to grow 10.30% this year and another 3.60% next year
- Earnings are estimated to increase 5.00% this year, grow again by 8.30% next year and continue to compound at an annual rate of 5.00% for the next 5 years
Analysts and Investor Sentiment -- I don't buy stocks because everyone else is buying but I do realize that if major firms and investors are dumping a stock it's hard to make money swimming against the tide:
- Wall Street analysts issued 2 strong buy and 1 hold recommendation on the stock
- Analysts price target are between $65 and $83 – despite positive recommendations the average price target is $74 which is below today's price
- The individual investors following the stock on Motley Fool voted 86 to 2 for the stock to beat the market with the most experienced investors voting 20 to 0 for the same result
- Value Line gives the stock its highest rating of 1
- CFRA's MarketScope gives the stock a buy recommendation
- 2,010 investors monitor the stock on Seeking Alpha
Additional disclosure: The Barchart Chart of the Day highlights stocks that are experiencing exceptional current price appreciation. They are not intended to be buy recommendations as these stocks are extremely volatile and speculative. Should you decide to add one of these stocks to your investment portfolio it is highly suggested you follow a predetermined diversification and moving stop loss discipline that is consistent with your personal investment risk tolerance and reevaluate your stop losses at least on a weekly basis.
On the date of publication, Jim Van Meerten did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.
