NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) - Get Report shares closed trading down 0.58% to $32.84 on Thursday despite the technology and software provider's announcement that it was raising its quarterly dividend by 10% before the opening bell today.

The company announced that it was raising its quarterly dividend to 17.6 cents per share payable April 1 to shareholders of record on March 11, with the increased dividend set to cost the company an additional $288 million per quarter, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The company previously announced plans to separate its PC and printer business from its corporate hardware and services business as part of the five year turnaround plan company CEO Meg Whitman initiated when she took the company's helm in 2011. 

The split is supposed to be completed by the end of this year with the two new companies expected to generate about $50 billion in revenue each annually. 

TheStreet Ratings team rates HEWLETT-PACKARD CO as a Buy with a ratings score of B. TheStreet Ratings Team has this to say about their recommendation:

"We rate HEWLETT-PACKARD CO (HPQ) a BUY. This is driven by several positive factors, which we believe should have a greater impact than any weaknesses, and should give investors a better performance opportunity than most stocks we cover. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its attractive valuation levels and increase in stock price during the past year. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had sub par growth in net income."

Highlights from the analysis by TheStreet Ratings Team goes as follows:

• Compared to where it was a year ago today, the stock is now trading at a higher level, regardless of the company's weak earnings results. Turning our attention to the future direction of the stock, it goes without saying that even the best stocks can fall in an overall down market. However, in any other environment, this stock still has good upside potential despite the fact that it has already risen in the past year.
• HEWLETT-PACKARD CO' earnings per share from the most recent quarter came in slightly below the year earlier quarter. Stable earnings per share over the past year indicate the company has sound management over its earnings and share float. We anticipate these figures will begin to experience more growth in the coming year. During the past fiscal year, HEWLETT-PACKARD CO's EPS of $2.62 remained unchanged from the prior years' EPS of $2.62. This year, the market expects an improvement in earnings ($3.65 versus $2.62).
• The revenue fell significantly faster than the industry average of 31.7%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues slightly dropped by 4.7%. The declining revenue appears to have seeped down to the company's bottom line, decreasing earnings per share.
• HPQ's debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72 is somewhat low overall, but it is high when compared to the industry average, implying that the management of the debt levels should be evaluated further. Despite the fact that HPQ's debt-to-equity ratio is mixed in its results, the company's quick ratio of 0.67 is low and demonstrates weak liquidity.
• You can view the full analysis from the report here: HPQ Ratings Report

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