Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Raises Stock Position in Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc raised its stake in Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI) by 20.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 31,882 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,486 shares during the quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc’s holdings in Houlihan Lokey were worth $5,537,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ethic Inc. purchased a new position in Houlihan Lokey in the fourth quarter valued at about $831,000. FORA Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Houlihan Lokey during the 4th quarter worth approximately $612,000. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. increased its stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 49.8% during the 4th quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 13,477 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,340,000 after purchasing an additional 4,483 shares in the last quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Houlihan Lokey during the 4th quarter worth approximately $353,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 11.8% during the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 20,727 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,600,000 after purchasing an additional 2,183 shares in the last quarter. 78.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HLI has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Houlihan Lokey in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com cut shares of Houlihan Lokey from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. UBS Group raised 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $172.00 to $169.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Houlihan Lokey currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $185.00.

Houlihan Lokey Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HLI opened at $178.11 on Wednesday. Houlihan Lokey, Inc. has a 1 year low of $127.14 and a 1 year high of $192.10. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $159.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $171.62. The firm has a market cap of $12.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.99 and a beta of 0.82.

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.35. Houlihan Lokey had a net margin of 16.00% and a return on equity of 20.04%. The firm had revenue of $666.42 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $628.25 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.27 earnings per share. Houlihan Lokey’s revenue was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Houlihan Lokey, Inc. will post 5.98 EPS for the current year.

Houlihan Lokey Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.35%. This is a positive change from Houlihan Lokey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Houlihan Lokey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.24%.

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.