Huron Consulting Group (NASDAQ:HURN) Issues Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.52 EPS

Huron Consulting Group (NASDAQ:HURN - Get Free Report) issued its earnings results on Tuesday. The business services provider reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.52, Zacks reports. Huron Consulting Group had a net margin of 5.80% and a return on equity of 21.51%. The company had revenue of $404.14 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $389.27 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.23 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis.

Huron Consulting Group Trading Up 4.6 %

HURN stock traded up $6.44 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $147.36. 341,310 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 147,810. Huron Consulting Group has a one year low of $84.87 and a one year high of $153.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 1.61. The company has a market cap of $2.64 billion, a PE ratio of 32.03 and a beta of 0.37. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $143.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $129.95.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on HURN. Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of Huron Consulting Group in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Barrington Research reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $167.00 price objective on shares of Huron Consulting Group in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. StockNews.com downgraded Huron Consulting Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Huron Consulting Group in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, Wedbush boosted their target price on Huron Consulting Group from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $169.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO C. Mark Hussey sold 27,672 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.91, for a total transaction of $4,037,621.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 81,118 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,835,927.38. This represents a 25.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director H Eugene Lockhart sold 1,042 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.15, for a total transaction of $130,406.30. Following the sale, the director now owns 24,672 shares in the company, valued at $3,087,700.80. This trade represents a 4.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 78,781 shares of company stock worth $11,484,452 over the last ninety days. 2.15% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Huron Consulting Group Company Profile

Huron Consulting Group Inc, a professional services firm, provides consultancy services in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Healthcare, Education, and Commercial. The Healthcare segment provides financial and operational performance improvement consulting services; digital offerings, spanning technology and analytic-related services; software products; organizational transformation services; revenue cycle managed and outsourcing services; financial and capital advisory consulting services; and strategy and innovation consulting services to national and regional health systems, academic and community health systems, federal health system, public, children's and critical access hospitals, physician practices and medical groups, payors, and long-term care or post-acute providers.