Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.57

Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, July 30th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be given a dividend of 0.57 per share by the financial services provider on Sunday, September 15th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 3rd.

Houlihan Lokey has raised its dividend by an average of 19.4% per year over the last three years. Houlihan Lokey has a payout ratio of 34.7% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Houlihan Lokey to earn $6.83 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.28 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 33.4%.

Houlihan Lokey Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE HLI opened at $150.24 on Thursday. Houlihan Lokey has a 12 month low of $94.67 and a 12 month high of $153.08. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $136.46 and a 200-day moving average of $130.39. The company has a market cap of $10.30 billion, a PE ratio of 36.55 and a beta of 0.67.

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22. Houlihan Lokey had a net margin of 15.30% and a return on equity of 19.01%. The firm had revenue of $514.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $508.70 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.89 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Houlihan Lokey will post 5.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HLI has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Houlihan Lokey in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Houlihan Lokey from $131.00 to $148.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $132.00 to $129.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $157.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and set a $154.00 target price (up previously from $139.00) on shares of Houlihan Lokey in a research note on Wednesday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $150.25.

Insider Activity at Houlihan Lokey

In related news, Chairman Irwin Gold sold 9,902 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.25, for a total transaction of $1,339,245.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Houlihan Lokey news, Chairman Irwin Gold sold 9,902 shares of Houlihan Lokey stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.25, for a total value of $1,339,245.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider David A. Preiser sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.21, for a total transaction of $2,664,200.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 25.97% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Houlihan Lokey

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.