Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Houlihan Lokey, Inc. has received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from five brokerages, with an average price target of $206.40 for the next year.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.60 per share, translating to a 1.3% dividend yield, with the payment set for September 15th.
• In the last quarter, Houlihan Lokey reported an EPS of $2.14, beating expectations and showing a year-over-year revenue increase of 17.8%.

Shares of Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the five analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $206.40.

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $192.00 price objective (up from $159.00) on shares of Houlihan Lokey in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $185.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Houlihan Lokey from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Houlihan Lokey from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $185.00 to $232.00 in a report on Monday, July 14th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Houlihan Lokey

In other Houlihan Lokey news, Chairman Irwin Gold sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Scott L. Beiser sold 8,008 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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. Insiders have sold a total of 13,508 shares of company stock worth $2,431,670 over the last three months. 22.83% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Houlihan Lokey

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HLI. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $126,723,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 39,574.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 686,375 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,108,500,000 after buying an additional 684,645 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Houlihan Lokey by 122.7% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,041,201 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $180,815,000 after acquiring an additional 573,745 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. purchased a new stake in Houlihan Lokey in the 1st quarter worth approximately $81,420,000. Finally, Champlain Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in Houlihan Lokey by 194.9% in the 2nd quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 546,340 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $98,314,000 after purchasing an additional 361,085 shares in the last quarter. 78.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Houlihan Lokey Stock Up 1.6%

HLI traded up $3.07 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $196.46. The company had a trading volume of 230,155 shares, compared to its average volume of 404,373. The company has a market capitalization of $13.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.07 and a beta of 0.86. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $185.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $173.46. Houlihan Lokey has a 52 week low of $137.99 and a 52 week high of $198.78.

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 business's revenue was up 17.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.22 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Houlihan Lokey will post 5.98 EPS for the current year.

Houlihan Lokey Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be paid a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 2nd. Houlihan Lokey's payout ratio is presently 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.