Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the six ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $157.00.

HLI has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Houlihan Lokey in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $149.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Houlihan Lokey from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. StockNews.com downgraded Houlihan Lokey from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Houlihan Lokey from $146.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Gillian Beth Zucker sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.08, for a total value of $33,616.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 6,601 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,109,496.08. The trade was a 2.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 23.68% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Houlihan Lokey

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in HLI. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Houlihan Lokey during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Crewe Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Houlihan Lokey by 264.5% during the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 226 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC purchased a new position in shares of Houlihan Lokey during the third quarter worth $38,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey in the second quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 81.5% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 441 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 198 shares during the period. 78.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Houlihan Lokey Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of HLI stock opened at $186.92 on Tuesday. Houlihan Lokey has a 12-month low of $112.17 and a 12-month high of $192.10. The business’s 50 day moving average is $173.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $153.59. The company has a market capitalization of $12.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.23 and a beta of 0.65.

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.15. Houlihan Lokey had a return on equity of 19.29% and a net margin of 15.77%. The business had revenue of $574.96 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $537.93 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.11 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 23.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Houlihan Lokey will post 5.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Houlihan Lokey Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.22%. Houlihan Lokey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.