Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) Lowered to Hold Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday.

A number of other analysts have also commented on HLI. UBS Group boosted their target price on Houlihan Lokey from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Houlihan Lokey from $132.00 to $129.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $154.00 target price (up from $139.00) on shares of Houlihan Lokey in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $146.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Houlihan Lokey in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $149.00 price objective on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $157.00.

Houlihan Lokey Stock Performance

Houlihan Lokey stock opened at $188.74 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.60 and a beta of 0.65. Houlihan Lokey has a 52-week low of $104.86 and a 52-week high of $191.39. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $170.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $151.59.

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.15. Houlihan Lokey had a net margin of 15.77% and a return on equity of 19.29%. The business had revenue of $574.96 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $537.93 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.11 earnings per share. Houlihan Lokey’s revenue was up 23.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Houlihan Lokey will post 5.79 EPS for the current year.

Houlihan Lokey Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. Houlihan Lokey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.63%.

Insider Transactions at Houlihan Lokey

In other Houlihan Lokey news, General Counsel Christopher M. Crain sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.29, for a total value of $155,290.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Gillian Beth Zucker sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.08, for a total value of $33,616.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 6,601 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,109,496.08. This represents a 2.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,400 shares of company stock worth $219,362 in the last quarter. 23.68% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Houlihan Lokey

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HLI. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Houlihan Lokey in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Crewe Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Houlihan Lokey by 264.5% during the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 226 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the period. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC purchased a new stake in Houlihan Lokey in the third quarter worth $38,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey in the second quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 81.5% during the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 441 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.07% of the company’s stock.

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.