Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 764,000 shares, a growth of 28.9% from the February 13th total of 592,700 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 400,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.9 days. Approximately 1.4% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on HLI. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $229.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Houlihan Lokey from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $192.00 target price (up previously from $170.00) on shares of Houlihan Lokey in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Houlihan Lokey from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $201.00 to $190.00 in a research note on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $172.00 to $169.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $192.00.

Houlihan Lokey Trading Up 1.7 %

NYSE:HLI traded up $2.69 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $161.68. The company had a trading volume of 127,024 shares, compared to its average volume of 324,770. Houlihan Lokey has a 52 week low of $121.81 and a 52 week high of $192.10. The firm has a market cap of $11.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.88 and a beta of 0.72. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $174.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $172.05.

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.13. Houlihan Lokey had a net margin of 16.00% and a return on equity of 20.04%. On average, analysts forecast that Houlihan Lokey will post 5.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Houlihan Lokey Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Houlihan Lokey’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.51%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HLI. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey in the 4th quarter worth about $143,559,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey in the 4th quarter worth about $114,047,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 122.7% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,041,201 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $180,815,000 after buying an additional 573,745 shares during the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 731.6% in the 4th quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 347,469 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $60,341,000 after buying an additional 305,685 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 341.0% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 307,304 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $53,366,000 after buying an additional 237,615 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.07% of the company’s stock.

About Houlihan Lokey

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.