Huron Consulting Group (NASDAQ:HURN) Shares Up 6.3% - Here's Why

Key Points

• Huron Consulting Group shares rose 6.3% to approximately $166.46 in mid-day trading, despite volume running 56% below the average session level.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with four Buy ratings and two Holds producing a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $184.25.
• The company exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $2.46 in EPS versus $2.17 expected and revenue of $475.04 million, up 15.7% year over year. However, insiders sold approximately $4.07 million of stock during the quarter.

Shares of Huron Consulting Group Inc. (NASDAQ:HURN - Get Free Report) shot up 6.3% during mid-day trading on Thursday. The company traded as high as $165.35 and last traded at $166.4620. Approximately 125,911 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 56% from the average session volume of 284,221 shares. The stock had previously closed at $156.61.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Zacks Research downgraded Huron Consulting Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, September 28th. Wall Street Zen raised Huron Consulting Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Weiss Ratings upgraded Huron Consulting Group from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 3rd. Finally, Barrington Research reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Huron Consulting Group in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $184.25.

Huron Consulting Group Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $2.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.22 and a beta of 0.09. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $156.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $128.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.11, a quick ratio of 1.71 and a current ratio of 1.71.

Huron Consulting Group (NASDAQ:HURN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The business services provider reported $2.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.17 by $0.29. Huron Consulting Group had a return on equity of 32.33% and a net margin of 6.38%.The company had revenue of $475.04 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $448.98 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.89 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. Huron Consulting Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.000-9.400 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Huron Consulting Group Inc. will post 9.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Kyle Featherstone sold 459 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.67, for a total value of $70,075.53. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,050 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $160,303.50. This trade represents a 30.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO C. Hussey sold 24,072 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.59, for a total transaction of $3,986,082.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 74,399 shares in the company, valued at $12,319,730.41. This represents a 24.45% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 24,613 shares of company stock valued at $4,069,914 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 2.07% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Huron Consulting Group

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Congress Asset Management Co. lifted its position in Huron Consulting Group by 12.5% in the third quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 106,781 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $16,746,000 after buying an additional 11,836 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Huron Consulting Group in the second quarter worth about $547,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its holdings in shares of Huron Consulting Group by 1,272.1% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 38,075 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,433,000 after purchasing an additional 35,300 shares during the last quarter. Nykredit A S bought a new stake in Huron Consulting Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $111,000. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LP purchased a new stake in Huron Consulting Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,815,000. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Huron Consulting Group

Huron Consulting Group Inc NASDAQ: HURN is a global professional services company that helps organizations improve performance, manage change and address complex business challenges. Founded in 2002 and headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, the company serves clients in the healthcare, education and commercial sectors.

Huron's services include strategy and operations consulting, digital transformation, technology implementation, data and analytics, financial and performance improvement, and managed services.

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