Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Takes Position in Houlihan Lokey, Inc. $HLI

Key Points

• The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased 14,700 shares of Houlihan Lokey, Inc. valued at approximately $2,374,000 in the first quarter.
• Houlihan Lokey reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $2.14, beating expectations and resulting in a year-over-year revenue increase of 17.8%.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.60, scheduled to be paid on September 15th, with a dividend yield of 1.2% based on its annualized payout.

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new position in shares of Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 14,700 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,374,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Houlihan Lokey by 39,574.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 686,375 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,108,500,000 after acquiring an additional 684,645 shares in the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. acquired a new position in Houlihan Lokey in the first quarter valued at $81,420,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP acquired a new position in Houlihan Lokey in the first quarter valued at $46,236,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its stake in Houlihan Lokey by 1,946.8% in the first quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 275,458 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $44,486,000 after acquiring an additional 262,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Champlain Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in Houlihan Lokey in the first quarter valued at $29,919,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.07% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HLI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Houlihan Lokey from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $185.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $192.00 to $213.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Houlihan Lokey from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating and upped their target price for the company from $185.00 to $232.00 in a report on Monday, July 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Houlihan Lokey presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $210.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Houlihan Lokey news, General Counsel Christopher M. Crain sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.22, for a total value of $98,110.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Paul Eric Siegert sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.95, for a total transaction of $7,998,000.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 45,500 shares of company stock valued at $9,010,160 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 22.83% of the company's stock.

Houlihan Lokey Stock Down 0.9%

NYSE HLI traded down $1.76 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $196.70. 176,668 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 403,219. The company has a market cap of $13.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.11 and a beta of 0.86. Houlihan Lokey, Inc. has a 12-month low of $137.99 and a 12-month high of $201.63. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $192.94 and a 200 day moving average of $175.49.

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.45. The firm had revenue of $605.35 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $573.07 million. Houlihan Lokey had a net margin of 16.46% and a return on equity of 23.75%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 17.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.22 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Houlihan Lokey, Inc. will post 5.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Houlihan Lokey Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 2nd. Houlihan Lokey's dividend payout ratio is currently 40.40%.

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.