Piper Sandler Comments on Houlihan Lokey, Inc.’s FY2021 Earnings (NYSE:HLI)

Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI) – Analysts at Piper Sandler increased their FY2021 earnings per share estimates for Houlihan Lokey in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, January 13th. Piper Sandler analyst J. Harte now anticipates that the financial services provider will post earnings of $3.10 per share for the year, up from their previous estimate of $2.78. Piper Sandler also issued estimates for Houlihan Lokey’s Q4 2021 earnings at $0.82 EPS, Q1 2022 earnings at $0.78 EPS, Q2 2022 earnings at $0.86 EPS, Q4 2022 earnings at $1.06 EPS and FY2022 earnings at $3.74 EPS.

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.20. Houlihan Lokey had a return on equity of 19.18% and a net margin of 18.06%. The company had revenue of $275.74 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $224.80 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.70 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. BidaskClub cut Houlihan Lokey from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 18th. Wolfe Research lowered Houlihan Lokey from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $57.00 to $63.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 5th. Morgan Stanley lowered Houlihan Lokey from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $80.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, December 14th. Seaport Global Securities began coverage on Houlihan Lokey in a research note on Wednesday, December 16th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Finally, UBS Group lowered Houlihan Lokey from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Houlihan Lokey presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $64.67.

HLI opened at $72.24 on Thursday. Houlihan Lokey has a 12-month low of $42.86 and a 12-month high of $72.65. The stock has a market cap of $5.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.76 and a beta of 0.66. The business has a 50 day moving average of $67.93 and a 200-day moving average of $61.46.

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Houlihan Lokey by 4.8% during the first quarter. FMR LLC now owns 666,508 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,559,000 after purchasing an additional 30,698 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 810.4% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 116,873 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,359,000 after purchasing an additional 104,036 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 12,359.5% during the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 5,233 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $290,000 after purchasing an additional 5,191 shares during the period. State of Tennessee Treasury Department increased its position in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 77.7% during the second quarter. State of Tennessee Treasury Department now owns 2,179 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $121,000 after purchasing an additional 953 shares during the period. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. increased its position in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 127.9% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,413 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 793 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 65.66% of the company’s stock.

In other Houlihan Lokey news, Chairman Irwin Gold sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.02, for a total transaction of $39,012.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 600 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,012. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 19,400 shares of company stock worth $1,314,464. Corporate insiders own 27.04% of the company’s stock.

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 1st. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.83%. Houlihan Lokey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.25%.

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 Advisory Services. The Corporate Finance segment offers general financial advisory services; and advises public and private institutions on buy-side and sell-side transactions, leveraged loans, private mezzanine debt, high-yield debt, initial public offerings, follow-ons, convertibles, equity private placements, private equity, and liability management transactions, as well as financial sponsors on various transactions.

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