Short Interest in Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI) Drops By 5.2%

Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 859,400 shares, a decrease of 5.2% from the August 15th total of 906,900 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 293,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.9 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on HLI shares. UBS Group raised their price target on Houlihan Lokey from $157.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Houlihan Lokey from $132.00 to $129.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Houlihan Lokey from $148.00 to $146.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $154.00 price objective (up from $139.00) on shares of Houlihan Lokey in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Houlihan Lokey in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $149.00 price objective on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $149.60.

Houlihan Lokey Stock Up 2.3 %

NYSE HLI opened at $158.32 on Friday. Houlihan Lokey has a twelve month low of $94.67 and a twelve month high of $160.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.86 billion, a PE ratio of 38.52 and a beta of 0.67. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $149.89 and its 200 day moving average is $137.02.

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.22. The company had revenue of $514.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $508.70 million. Houlihan Lokey had a return on equity of 18.80% and a net margin of 15.30%. The firm’s revenue was up 23.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.89 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Houlihan Lokey will post 5.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Houlihan Lokey Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. Houlihan Lokey’s payout ratio is 55.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Houlihan Lokey

In other news, Chairman Scott L. Beiser sold 8,317 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.89, for a total transaction of $1,263,269.13. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Chairman Scott L. Beiser sold 8,317 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.89, for a total transaction of $1,263,269.13. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Gillian Beth Zucker sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.28, for a total value of $30,456.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,801 shares in the company, valued at $1,035,656.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 19,619 shares of company stock worth $2,818,759 in the last quarter. 25.97% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HLI. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its stake in Houlihan Lokey by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 3,198 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $383,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Houlihan Lokey in the fourth quarter worth $82,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 122.6% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 14,130 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,694,000 after purchasing an additional 7,782 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,446 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $293,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 14.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 5,952 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $714,000 after purchasing an additional 753 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.