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

Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLIGet Free Report) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 819,900 shares, a growth of 18.3% from the December 15th total of 692,800 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 325,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.5 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Houlihan Lokey

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Strategic Wealth Investment Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Strategic Wealth Investment Group LLC now owns 8,103 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,293,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 12.6% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 857 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $135,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 17,238 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,724,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 21,787 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,443,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 12.1% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,387 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $241,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.07% of the company’s stock.

Houlihan Lokey Stock Up 0.9 %

HLI stock traded up $1.64 during trading on Friday, hitting $181.21. The company had a trading volume of 326,287 shares, compared to its average volume of 321,812. The firm has a market cap of $12.59 billion, a PE ratio of 37.06 and a beta of 0.69. Houlihan Lokey has a 1-year low of $116.67 and a 1-year high of $192.10. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $179.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $164.26.

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLIGet Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.31 by $0.15. Houlihan Lokey had a return on equity of 19.29% and a net margin of 15.77%. The company had revenue of $574.96 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $537.93 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.11 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Houlihan Lokey will post 5.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Houlihan Lokey Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. Houlihan Lokey’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Houlihan Lokey from $172.00 to $170.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. 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 research report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com cut Houlihan Lokey from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Houlihan Lokey from $180.00 to $178.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Houlihan Lokey from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $173.40.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on Houlihan Lokey

About Houlihan Lokey

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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.

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