Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI) Receives Consensus Rating of “Reduce” from Analysts

Shares of Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI) have received a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the six brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $194.40.

HLI has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Houlihan Lokey from $200.00 to $201.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $229.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $178.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com raised shares of Houlihan Lokey from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Houlihan Lokey in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th.

Houlihan Lokey Stock Down 3.8 %

NYSE HLI opened at $175.72 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $177.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $170.34. Houlihan Lokey has a 12-month low of $121.81 and a 12-month high of $192.10. The company has a market capitalization of $12.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.53 and a beta of 0.69.

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 analysts expect that Houlihan Lokey will post 5.98 EPS for the current year.

Houlihan Lokey Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.30%. Houlihan Lokey’s payout ratio is currently 43.51%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Houlihan Lokey

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. boosted its position in Houlihan Lokey by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,251,831 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $217,393,000 after buying an additional 20,354 shares in the last quarter. Novem Group bought a new position in shares of Houlihan Lokey in the 4th quarter valued at $694,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 179,167 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,114,000 after acquiring an additional 13,384 shares in the last quarter. Wolverine Trading LLC bought a new stake in Houlihan Lokey during the 4th quarter worth $270,000. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Houlihan Lokey in the 4th quarter worth about $3,091,000. 78.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.