Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $192.00.

HLI has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Houlihan Lokey from $172.00 to $169.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $192.00 target price (up from $170.00) on shares of Houlihan Lokey in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Houlihan Lokey from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $229.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Houlihan Lokey from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $201.00 to $190.00 in a report on Thursday, March 13th.

Houlihan Lokey Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE HLI opened at $162.79 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $11.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.07 and a beta of 0.72. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $173.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $172.08. Houlihan Lokey has a 52-week low of $121.81 and a 52-week high of $192.10.

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.13. Houlihan Lokey had a return on equity of 20.04% and a net margin of 16.00%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Houlihan Lokey will post 5.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Houlihan Lokey Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.40%. Houlihan Lokey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.51%.

Institutional Trading of Houlihan Lokey

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HLI. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its stake in Houlihan Lokey by 110.9% during the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 4,955 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $783,000 after acquiring an additional 2,606 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 2,482.4% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 9,813 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,551,000 after purchasing an additional 9,433 shares during the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc raised its holdings in Houlihan Lokey by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 22,497 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,555,000 after buying an additional 809 shares during the period. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Houlihan Lokey in the 3rd quarter valued at about $254,000. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its position in Houlihan Lokey by 25.2% in the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 4,688 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $741,000 after buying an additional 944 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.07% of the company’s stock.

Houlihan Lokey Company Profile

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.