Huron Consulting Group Inc. (NASDAQ:HURN) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Huron Consulting Group Inc. (NASDAQ:HURN) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 163,500 shares, a growth of 67.2% from the February 13th total of 97,800 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 127,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.3 days. Currently, 1.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barrington Research increased their price objective on Huron Consulting Group from $142.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Huron Consulting Group in a report on Monday, March 10th. Benchmark increased their price target on Huron Consulting Group from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Wedbush began coverage on Huron Consulting Group in a report on Monday, February 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on Huron Consulting Group from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, Huron Consulting Group currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $155.50.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director James H. Roth sold 8,642 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.93, for a total value of $1,243,843.06. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 64,921 shares in the company, valued at $9,344,079.53. This represents a 11.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John Mccartney sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.65, for a total value of $62,325.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 56,688 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,066,159.20. The trade was a 0.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 63,498 shares of company stock worth $9,202,526. Insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Huron Consulting Group

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HURN. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in Huron Consulting Group by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,373 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $149,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its position in Huron Consulting Group by 32.7% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 18,571 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,019,000 after acquiring an additional 4,576 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC lifted its position in Huron Consulting Group by 131.9% in the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 13,814 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,502,000 after acquiring an additional 7,858 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in Huron Consulting Group by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 574,006 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $62,394,000 after acquiring an additional 31,123 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in Huron Consulting Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $457,000. Institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Huron Consulting Group Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of HURN stock traded up $3.35 on Friday, reaching $147.76. 233,340 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 121,777. The company has a market cap of $2.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.12 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a 50-day moving average of $131.70 and a 200-day moving average of $120.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.61. Huron Consulting Group has a one year low of $84.26 and a one year high of $153.85.

Huron Consulting Group (NASDAQ:HURN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The business services provider reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $399.31 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $380.62 million. Huron Consulting Group had a net margin of 5.80% and a return on equity of 21.51%. Analysts anticipate that Huron Consulting Group will post 6.1 earnings per share for the current year.

About Huron Consulting Group

Huron Consulting Group Inc, a professional services firm, provides consultancy services in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Healthcare, Education, and Commercial. The Healthcare segment provides financial and operational performance improvement consulting services; digital offerings, spanning technology and analytic-related services; software products; organizational transformation services; revenue cycle managed and outsourcing services; financial and capital advisory consulting services; and strategy and innovation consulting services to national and regional health systems, academic and community health systems, federal health system, public, children’s and critical access hospitals, physician practices and medical groups, payors, and long-term care or post-acute providers.