Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) Hits New 1-Year High - Time to Buy?

Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $192.44 and last traded at $191.95, with a volume of 88763 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $189.18.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on HLI. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $192.00 price target (up from $159.00) on shares of Houlihan Lokey in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Houlihan Lokey from $185.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday. Wall Street Zen upgraded Houlihan Lokey from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Houlihan Lokey from $183.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $197.00.

Houlihan Lokey Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $13.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.54 and a beta of 0.83. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $177.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $170.77.

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $666.42 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $628.25 million. Houlihan Lokey had a return on equity of 21.61% and a net margin of 16.73%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.27 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Houlihan Lokey, Inc. will post 5.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Houlihan Lokey Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This is an increase from Houlihan Lokey's previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.27%. Houlihan Lokey's dividend payout ratio is presently 41.24%.

Insider Transactions at Houlihan Lokey

In other news, Chairman Scott L. Beiser sold 8,008 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.71, for a total transaction of $1,431,109.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Irwin Gold sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.81, for a total value of $914,050.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 13,508 shares of company stock worth $2,431,670. 23.68% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Houlihan Lokey by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,306,604 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $857,017,000 after buying an additional 41,030 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Houlihan Lokey by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 3,281,294 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $569,830,000 after buying an additional 208,851 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Houlihan Lokey by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,875,220 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $325,651,000 after buying an additional 161,647 shares in the last quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. grew its holdings in Houlihan Lokey by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,251,831 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $217,393,000 after buying an additional 20,354 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew 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 valued at $180,815,000 after buying an additional 573,745 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.07% of the company's stock.

Houlihan Lokey Company Profile

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.