Analysts Set Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI) Price Target at $194.40

Shares of Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the six research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have issued a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $194.40.

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com raised Houlihan Lokey from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Houlihan Lokey from $178.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Houlihan Lokey in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Houlihan Lokey from $200.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Houlihan Lokey from $172.00 to $169.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th.

Houlihan Lokey Trading Down 2.7 %

Shares of HLI opened at $171.07 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $12.00 billion, a PE ratio of 32.65 and a beta of 0.69. Houlihan Lokey has a 12 month low of $121.81 and a 12 month high of $192.10. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $177.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $170.69.

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 research analysts predict that Houlihan Lokey will post 5.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Houlihan Lokey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. Houlihan Lokey’s payout ratio is 43.51%.

Institutional Trading of Houlihan Lokey

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HLI. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Houlihan Lokey in the 4th quarter valued at about $143,559,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Houlihan Lokey during the 4th quarter valued at about $114,047,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Houlihan Lokey by 122.7% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,041,201 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $180,815,000 after purchasing an additional 573,745 shares during the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Houlihan Lokey by 731.6% during the 4th quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 347,469 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $60,341,000 after purchasing an additional 305,685 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp boosted its stake in Houlihan Lokey by 666.8% during the 3rd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 283,702 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $44,831,000 after purchasing an additional 246,705 shares during the last quarter. 78.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Houlihan Lokey Company Profile

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.