National Bank of Canada FI Acquires New Position in Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI)

National Bank of Canada FI acquired a new stake in Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 1,990 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $321,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HLI. Bogart Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 111.1% in the first quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 152 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Motco acquired a new position in Houlihan Lokey in the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. TCTC Holdings LLC increased its position in Houlihan Lokey by 103.5% in the 1st quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 232 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey during the 1st quarter worth about $54,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 744.2% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on HLI shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Houlihan Lokey from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $185.00 to $232.00 in a report on Monday, July 14th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $192.00 price target (up previously from $159.00) on shares of Houlihan Lokey in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $185.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Houlihan Lokey from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Houlihan Lokey has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $206.40.

Houlihan Lokey Stock Down 1.8%

NYSE:HLI opened at $190.67 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $186.45 and its 200-day moving average is $173.71. Houlihan Lokey, Inc. has a 12 month low of $137.99 and a 12 month high of $198.78. The firm has a market cap of $13.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.10 and a beta of 0.86.

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.45. Houlihan Lokey had a net margin of 16.46% and a return on equity of 23.75%. The firm had revenue of $605.35 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $573.07 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.22 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 17.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Houlihan Lokey, Inc. will post 5.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Houlihan Lokey Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be given a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 2nd. Houlihan Lokey’s payout ratio is currently 40.40%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Irwin Gold sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.81, for a total value of $914,050.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, General Counsel Christopher M. Crain sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.02, for a total transaction of $86,510.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 13,508 shares of company stock valued at $2,431,670 in the last three months. Company insiders own 22.83% of the company’s stock.

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.