Huron Consulting Group (NASDAQ:HURN) Shares Up 6.6% - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• Huron Consulting Group shares rose 6.6% to about $167.17, bringing the company’s market capitalization to approximately $2.68 billion.
• The company exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $2.46 in EPS versus the $2.17 estimate and $475.04 million in revenue versus $448.98 million expected; revenue increased 15.7% year over year.
• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $184.25, although CEO C. Hussey recently sold 24,072 shares under a pre-arranged trading plan.

Huron Consulting Group Inc. (NASDAQ:HURN - Get Free Report) rose 6.6% during trading on Thursday. The stock traded as high as $166.88 and last traded at $167.1690. 142,584 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 50% from the average daily volume of 283,736 shares. The stock had previously closed at $156.83.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HURN has been the subject of several research reports. Barrington Research reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Huron Consulting Group in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Huron Consulting Group to $155.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Zacks Research cut shares of Huron Consulting Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Huron Consulting Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Huron Consulting Group from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Huron Consulting Group currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $184.25.

Huron Consulting Group Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $2.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.28 and a beta of 0.07. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $152.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $127.73. 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 issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The business services provider reported $2.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.17 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $475.04 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $448.98 million. Huron Consulting Group had a return on equity of 32.33% and a net margin of 6.38%.Huron Consulting Group's revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.89 earnings per share. Huron Consulting Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.000-9.400 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Huron Consulting Group Inc. will post 9.18 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Huron Consulting Group

In other news, CEO C. Hussey sold 24,072 shares of Huron Consulting Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.59, for a total transaction of $3,986,082.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 74,399 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,319,730.41. The trade was a 24.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Kyle Featherstone sold 459 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.67, for a total transaction of $70,075.53. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 1,050 shares in the company, valued at approximately $160,303.50. The trade was a 30.42% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 2.07% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Huron Consulting Group

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State of Wyoming boosted its stake in Huron Consulting Group by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 3,098 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $536,000 after buying an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN raised its stake in Huron Consulting Group by 9.8% during the first quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 1,585 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $202,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH lifted its holdings in shares of Huron Consulting Group by 5.6% during the first quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 3,789 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $483,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Huron Consulting Group by 11,900.0% during the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 240 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 238 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of Huron Consulting Group by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 11,204 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,428,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.