Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI) Receives Average Recommendation of “Reduce” from Analysts

Shares of Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the six analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $174.20.

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on HLI. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Houlihan Lokey from $171.00 to $172.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Houlihan Lokey from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $157.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered Houlihan Lokey from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $171.00 to $200.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th.

Insider Activity at Houlihan Lokey

In related news, Director Gillian Beth Zucker sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.08, for a total value of $33,616.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,601 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,109,496.08. This represents a 2.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 23.68% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Houlihan Lokey

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in Houlihan Lokey by 24,074.0% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 501,610 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $67,647,000 after purchasing an additional 499,535 shares during the period. Fiera Capital Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 666.8% in the 3rd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 283,702 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $44,831,000 after buying an additional 246,705 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey in the third quarter worth about $24,177,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Houlihan Lokey by 33.0% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 601,025 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $94,974,000 after acquiring an additional 149,114 shares during the period. Finally, Eagle Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Houlihan Lokey by 23.6% during the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 693,109 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $109,525,000 after acquiring an additional 132,516 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.07% of the company’s stock.

Houlihan Lokey Price Performance

NYSE:HLI opened at $171.53 on Friday. Houlihan Lokey has a 1-year low of $112.17 and a 1-year high of $192.10. The company has a 50-day moving average of $179.74 and a 200 day moving average of $161.06. The firm has a market cap of $11.92 billion, a PE ratio of 35.08 and a beta of 0.67.

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.11 earnings per share. Houlihan Lokey’s revenue was up 23.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Houlihan Lokey will post 5.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Houlihan Lokey Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.33%. Houlihan Lokey’s 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.