Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,100,000 shares, an increase of 11.8% from the June 30th total of 983,600 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 330,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.3 days.

Houlihan Lokey Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of Houlihan Lokey stock traded down $2.22 on Monday, reaching $147.77. 359,152 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 335,370. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $136.21 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $130.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.95 and a beta of 0.67. Houlihan Lokey has a twelve month low of $94.67 and a twelve month high of $150.60.

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.27 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $520.46 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $508.99 million. Houlihan Lokey had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 18.08%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.11 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Houlihan Lokey will post 5.63 EPS for the current year.

Houlihan Lokey Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 3rd. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.54%. This is a positive change from Houlihan Lokey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Houlihan Lokey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.47%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on HLI. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Houlihan Lokey from $132.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Houlihan Lokey from $145.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Houlihan Lokey in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $131.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $148.00.

Insider Transactions at Houlihan Lokey

In related news, Chairman Irwin Gold sold 9,902 shares of Houlihan Lokey stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.25, for a total transaction of $1,339,245.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Houlihan Lokey news, Chairman Irwin Gold sold 9,902 shares of Houlihan Lokey stock in a transaction on Friday, June 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.25, for a total transaction of $1,339,245.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider David A. Preiser sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.21, for a total value of $2,664,200.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 25.97% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Houlihan Lokey

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HLI. Quantbot Technologies LP grew its position in Houlihan Lokey by 624.8% during the first quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 7,270 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $932,000 after buying an additional 6,267 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,104,143 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $654,300,000 after acquiring an additional 29,843 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 731,130 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $93,723,000 after purchasing an additional 37,882 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Houlihan Lokey by 11.7% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 118,460 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $14,205,000 after purchasing an additional 12,419 shares during the period. Finally, Yousif Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Houlihan Lokey during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,960,000. 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.