Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI) Short Interest Up 18.3% in December

Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 819,900 shares, an increase of 18.3% from the December 15th total of 692,800 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 325,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.5 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Strategic Wealth Investment Group LLC raised its stake in Houlihan Lokey by 0.8% in the third quarter. Strategic Wealth Investment Group LLC now owns 8,103 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,293,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in Houlihan Lokey by 12.6% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 857 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $135,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in Houlihan Lokey by 0.6% in the third quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 17,238 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,724,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC raised its stake in Houlihan Lokey by 0.5% in the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 21,787 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,443,000 after buying an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Houlihan Lokey by 12.1% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,387 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $241,000 after buying an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HLI has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com cut Houlihan Lokey from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Morgan Stanley cut Houlihan Lokey from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $171.00 to $200.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Houlihan Lokey from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Houlihan Lokey from $180.00 to $178.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Houlihan Lokey from $172.00 to $170.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Houlihan Lokey presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $173.40.

Houlihan Lokey Stock Up 0.9 %

HLI traded up $1.64 on Friday, hitting $181.21. The company had a trading volume of 326,287 shares, compared to its average volume of 321,812. The company has a market cap of $12.59 billion, a PE ratio of 37.06 and a beta of 0.69. Houlihan Lokey has a 12-month low of $116.67 and a 12-month high of $192.10. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $179.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $164.26.

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.46 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $574.96 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $537.93 million. Houlihan Lokey had a return on equity of 19.29% and a net margin of 15.77%. The firm’s revenue was up 23.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.11 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Houlihan Lokey will post 5.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Houlihan Lokey Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.26%. Houlihan Lokey’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.63%.

Houlihan Lokey Company Profile

Houlihan Lokey, Inc, an investment banking company, provides merger and acquisition (M&A), capital market, financial restructuring, and financial and valuation advisory services worldwide. It operates in three segments: Corporate Finance, Financial Restructuring, and Financial and Valuation Advisory.