Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI) Receives $166.38 Average PT from Brokerages

Shares of Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the ten research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have assigned a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $166.3750.

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on HLI shares. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $171.00 to $148.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Houlihan Lokey from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Houlihan Lokey from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Houlihan Lokey in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $161.00 to $147.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 30th.

Houlihan Lokey Stock Down 2.6%

HLI opened at $130.30 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.96. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $133.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $141.82. Houlihan Lokey has a 12-month low of $112.83 and a 12-month high of $211.78.

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64 by ($0.29). Houlihan Lokey had a return on equity of 20.20% and a net margin of 16.10%.The business had revenue of $511.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $602.38 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.14 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Houlihan Lokey will post 6.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Houlihan Lokey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 1st were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. Houlihan Lokey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.06%.

Insider Transactions at Houlihan Lokey

In related news, General Counsel Christopher M. Crain sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.15, for a total transaction of $140,150.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 1,000 shares in the company, valued at $140,150. The trade was a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 22.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Houlihan Lokey

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in Houlihan Lokey by 2.8% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,751,495 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $251,551,000 after purchasing an additional 48,126 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Houlihan Lokey by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,418,549 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $247,133,000 after buying an additional 84,757 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in Houlihan Lokey by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 962,263 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $167,617,000 after buying an additional 5,822 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Houlihan Lokey in the 4th quarter valued at $115,478,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 20.4% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 544,862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $94,909,000 after buying an additional 92,453 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.07% of the company’s stock.

About Houlihan Lokey

Houlihan Lokey, Inc is a global investment bank that provides financial advisory services to corporations, financial sponsors, governments and other institutions. Its principal activities include mergers and acquisitions, capital markets advisory, financial restructuring, and valuation and financial opinions.

The company advises clients on acquisitions, divestitures, strategic alternatives, recapitalizations, fairness opinions and other complex financial matters. Its restructuring business supports companies, creditors and other stakeholders dealing with distressed situations, while its valuation and financial advisory practice provides analyses related to financial reporting, tax, litigation and strategic planning.

Founded in 1972, Houlihan Lokey has expanded from its origins in the United States into an international advisory firm serving clients across North America, Europe, the Asia-Pacific region and other global markets.