Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) Research Coverage Started at BMO Capital Markets

BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Marketbeat reports. The firm issued an outperform rating and a $230.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on HLI. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $192.00 to $213.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 8th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Houlihan Lokey from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $185.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Houlihan Lokey from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $185.00 to $232.00 in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Houlihan Lokey from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Houlihan Lokey has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $213.83.

Houlihan Lokey Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE HLI opened at $201.24 on Friday. Houlihan Lokey has a 12-month low of $137.99 and a 12-month high of $211.78. The company has a market cap of $14.15 billion, a PE ratio of 33.88 and a beta of 0.87. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $198.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $181.06.

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.45. Houlihan Lokey had a return on equity of 23.75% and a net margin of 16.46%.The firm had revenue of $605.35 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $573.07 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.22 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 17.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Houlihan Lokey will post 5.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Houlihan Lokey Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were given a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 2nd. Houlihan Lokey’s payout ratio is currently 40.40%.

Insider Transactions at Houlihan Lokey

In other Houlihan Lokey news, Chairman Paul Eric Siegert sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.95, for a total transaction of $7,998,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Christopher M. Crain sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.22, for a total value of $98,110.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 47,311 shares of company stock worth $9,477,040 in the last 90 days. 22.83% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Houlihan Lokey by 7.7% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,079 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,043,000 after acquiring an additional 361 shares during the period. Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its position in Houlihan Lokey by 14.5% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 10,258 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,838,000 after purchasing an additional 1,296 shares during the period. American Trust acquired a new stake in Houlihan Lokey during the second quarter worth $346,000. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Houlihan Lokey in the 2nd quarter valued at $608,000. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC raised its stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 7.5% in the 2nd quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 7,138 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,361,000 after buying an additional 496 shares in the last quarter. 78.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.