Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) Stock Rating Upgraded by Zacks Research

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) was upgraded by Zacks Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday, Zacks reports.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on HLI. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Houlihan Lokey from $177.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Houlihan Lokey in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on Houlihan Lokey from $160.00 to $153.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Wall Street Zen cut Houlihan Lokey from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Houlihan Lokey from $160.00 to $145.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $161.38.

Houlihan Lokey Stock Down 3.5%

NYSE HLI opened at $124.93 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.00. Houlihan Lokey has a 52-week low of $112.83 and a 52-week high of $204.18. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $130.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $139.26.

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). The firm had revenue of $511.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $602.38 million. Houlihan Lokey had a net margin of 16.10% and a return on equity of 20.20%. Houlihan Lokey’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.14 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Houlihan Lokey will post 6.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity 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 shares were sold at an average price of $140.15, for a total transaction of $140,150.00. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 1,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $140,150. The trade was a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 22.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,751,495 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $251,551,000 after acquiring an additional 48,126 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Houlihan Lokey by 15.2% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 616,519 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $88,540,000 after purchasing an additional 81,182 shares in the last quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. increased its stake in Houlihan Lokey by 7.6% in the 1st quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. now owns 405,978 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $58,307,000 after purchasing an additional 28,600 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. purchased a new position in Houlihan Lokey in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $35,728,000. Finally, Fenimore Asset Management Inc increased its stake in Houlihan Lokey by 52.9% in the 3rd quarter. Fenimore Asset Management Inc now owns 256,760 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,439,000 after purchasing an additional 88,862 shares in the last quarter. 78.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Houlihan Lokey

Houlihan Lokey, Inc is a global investment bank that provides financial advisory services to corporations, institutions, governments and other organizations. The firm focuses on complex strategic, financial and restructuring matters and is known for its independent advisory model.

Its principal businesses include corporate finance, financial restructuring, and financial and valuation advisory. Services include mergers and acquisitions advice, capital-raising and other strategic transactions, restructuring and liability management, fairness opinions, solvency analysis, financial reporting valuations, and transaction opinions.

Founded in 1972, Houlihan Lokey serves clients through offices across North America, Europe, the Asia-Pacific region and the Middle East.