Houlihan Lokey (HLI) Competitors

Hamilton Lane (NASDAQ:HLNE) and Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, risk, institutional ownership, valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations and media sentiment.

Does the media refer more to HLNE or HLI?

In the previous week, Hamilton Lane had 4 more articles in the media than Houlihan Lokey. MarketBeat recorded 15 mentions for Hamilton Lane and 11 mentions for Houlihan Lokey. Hamilton Lane's average media sentiment score of 1.05 beat Houlihan Lokey's score of 0.93 indicating that Hamilton Lane is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Hamilton Lane	8 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Houlihan Lokey	7 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts prefer HLNE or HLI?

Hamilton Lane currently has a consensus target price of $166.43, suggesting a potential upside of 10.69%. Houlihan Lokey has a consensus target price of $210.60, suggesting a potential upside of 0.83%. Given Hamilton Lane's higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Hamilton Lane is more favorable than Houlihan Lokey.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Hamilton Lane	0 Sell rating(s)	7 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
Houlihan Lokey	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.60

Which has better earnings and valuation, HLNE or HLI?

Houlihan Lokey has higher revenue and earnings than Hamilton Lane. Hamilton Lane is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Houlihan Lokey, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Hamilton Lane	$712.96M	11.74	$217.42M	$5.20	28.92
Houlihan Lokey	$2.39B	6.15	$399.71M	$5.94	35.16

Is HLNE or HLI a better dividend stock?

Hamilton Lane pays an annual dividend of $2.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.4%. Houlihan Lokey pays an annual dividend of $2.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. Hamilton Lane pays out 41.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Houlihan Lokey pays out 40.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Hamilton Lane has raised its dividend for 8 consecutive years and Houlihan Lokey has raised its dividend for 9 consecutive years.

Do institutionals & insiders hold more shares of HLNE or HLI?

97.4% of Hamilton Lane shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 78.1% of Houlihan Lokey shares are owned by institutional investors. 22.2% of Hamilton Lane shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 22.8% of Houlihan Lokey shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Is HLNE or HLI more profitable?

Hamilton Lane has a net margin of 30.66% compared to Houlihan Lokey's net margin of 16.46%. Hamilton Lane's return on equity of 29.47% beat Houlihan Lokey's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Hamilton Lane	30.66%	29.47%	16.22%
Houlihan Lokey	16.46%	23.75%	14.21%

Which has more volatility & risk, HLNE or HLI?

Hamilton Lane has a beta of 1.26, meaning that its stock price is 26% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Houlihan Lokey has a beta of 0.86, meaning that its stock price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Hamilton Lane beats Houlihan Lokey on 10 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.