Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Reaffirms Market Perform Rating for Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI)

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated their market perform rating on shares of Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) in a report published on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $192.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $170.00.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on HLI. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $229.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Houlihan Lokey from $172.00 to $169.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. 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 note on Wednesday. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Houlihan Lokey in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut shares of Houlihan Lokey from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $171.00 to $200.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Houlihan Lokey currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $194.40.

Houlihan Lokey Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of Houlihan Lokey stock opened at $181.92 on Wednesday. Houlihan Lokey has a 52 week low of $119.28 and a 52 week high of $192.10. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $178.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $167.04. The company has a market capitalization of $12.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.72 and a beta of 0.69.

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.13. Houlihan Lokey had a return on equity of 20.59% and a net margin of 16.00%. On average, equities analysts expect that Houlihan Lokey will post 5.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Houlihan Lokey Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.25%. Houlihan Lokey’s payout ratio is presently 43.51%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. raised its stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 1,625 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $282,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Houlihan Lokey by 1,298.1% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 727 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $126,000 after purchasing an additional 675 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in Houlihan Lokey by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,617 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $281,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Monument Capital Management boosted its position in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Monument Capital Management now owns 16,861 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,928,000 after buying an additional 577 shares during the period. Finally, Vista Finance LLC bought a new position in shares of Houlihan Lokey during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $348,000. 78.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.