Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.60

Key Points

• Houlihan Lokey, Inc. announced a quarterly dividend of $0.60 per share, with a total annualized dividend of $2.40 and a yield of 1.25%.
• The company reported earnings of $2.14 per share for the last quarter, exceeding analyst expectations by $0.41, and has a strong net margin of 16.73%.
• Several investment banks raised their ratings and price objectives for Houlihan Lokey, reflecting positive sentiment in the market, with a consensus target price of $206.40.

Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, July 29th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be paid a dividend of 0.60 per share by the financial services provider on Monday, September 15th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.25%.

Houlihan Lokey has a dividend payout ratio of 29.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Houlihan Lokey to earn $7.25 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.40 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 33.1%.

Houlihan Lokey Trading Down 0.6%

NYSE HLI traded down $1.06 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $191.79. 715,996 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 406,339. The company has a market cap of $13.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.95 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $181.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $172.51. Houlihan Lokey has a 1-year low of $137.99 and a 1-year high of $198.78.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.41. Houlihan Lokey had a net margin of 16.73% and a return on equity of 21.61%. Equities research analysts forecast that Houlihan Lokey will post 5.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Irwin Gold sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.81, for a total value of $914,050.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman Scott L. Beiser sold 8,008 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.71, for a total transaction of $1,431,109.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 13,508 shares of company stock valued at $2,431,670. 23.68% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Houlihan Lokey

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HLI. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in Houlihan Lokey by 14.4% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 49,584 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $8,008,000 after purchasing an additional 6,253 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Houlihan Lokey by 50.0% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 29,654 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,598,000 after purchasing an additional 9,891 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC acquired a new position in Houlihan Lokey in the first quarter valued at about $18,964,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in Houlihan Lokey by 5.7% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 415,743 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $67,143,000 after acquiring an additional 22,553 shares during the last quarter. 78.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HLI has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Houlihan Lokey from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Houlihan Lokey from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $185.00 to $232.00 in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $185.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $192.00 target price (up from $159.00) on shares of Houlihan Lokey in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $206.40.

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.

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