OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp Takes Position in Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI)

OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp bought a new stake in Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 5,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $868,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,532 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $258,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 5.0% during 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 in the last quarter. Mariner LLC grew its stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 12,220 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,122,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 1,636 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $284,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp grew its stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 3,771 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $655,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.07% of the company’s stock.

Houlihan Lokey Price Performance

Shares of HLI opened at $180.78 on Friday. Houlihan Lokey, Inc. has a 1-year low of $127.14 and a 1-year high of $192.10. The stock has a market cap of $12.68 billion, a PE ratio of 34.50 and a beta of 0.82. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $160.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $171.89.

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.35. Houlihan Lokey had a net margin of 16.00% and a return on equity of 20.04%. The firm had revenue of $666.42 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $628.25 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.27 earnings per share. Houlihan Lokey’s quarterly revenue was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Houlihan Lokey, Inc. will post 5.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Houlihan Lokey Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.33%. This is a boost from Houlihan Lokey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. Houlihan Lokey’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.24%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on HLI. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $229.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Houlihan Lokey from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $183.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $172.00 to $169.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $185.00.

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.