Reviewing Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) & RiverNorth Opportunities Fund (NYSE:RIV)

RiverNorth Opportunities Fund (NYSE:RIV) and Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, risk, profitability, institutional ownership, valuation and earnings.

Profitability

This table compares RiverNorth Opportunities Fund and Houlihan Lokey’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
RiverNorth Opportunities Fund	N/A	N/A	N/A
Houlihan Lokey	16.10%	20.20%	11.71%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings for RiverNorth Opportunities Fund and Houlihan Lokey, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
RiverNorth Opportunities Fund	0	0	0	0	0.00
Houlihan Lokey	0	5	5	0	2.50

Houlihan Lokey has a consensus target price of $166.38, indicating a potential upside of 28.71%. Given Houlihan Lokey’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Houlihan Lokey is more favorable than RiverNorth Opportunities Fund.

Dividends

RiverNorth Opportunities Fund pays an annual dividend of $1.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 14.5%. Houlihan Lokey pays an annual dividend of $2.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. Houlihan Lokey pays out 47.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Houlihan Lokey has raised its dividend for 9 consecutive years.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares RiverNorth Opportunities Fund and Houlihan Lokey”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
RiverNorth Opportunities Fund	$51.63 million	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Houlihan Lokey	$2.62 billion	3.41	$425.70 million	$5.95	21.73

Houlihan Lokey has higher revenue and earnings than RiverNorth Opportunities Fund.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

78.1% of Houlihan Lokey shares are held by institutional investors. 22.5% of Houlihan Lokey shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Houlihan Lokey beats RiverNorth Opportunities Fund on 10 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About RiverNorth Opportunities Fund

RiverNorth Opportunities Fund, Inc. is a close ended equity mutual fund co- launched and co- managed by ALPS Advisors, Inc. and RiverNorth Capital Management, LLC. It invests in the equity markets. The fund seeks to invest in stocks of companies operating across the diversified sectors. RiverNorth Opportunities Fund, Inc. was formed on December 24, 2015 and is domiciled in the United States.

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. 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 advise financial sponsors on various transactions. The Financial Restructuring segment advises debtors, creditors, and other parties-in-interest related to recapitalization/deleveraging transactions. It also provides a range of advisory services, including structuring, negotiation, and confirmation of plans of reorganization; structuring and analysis of exchange offers; corporate viability assessment; dispute resolution and expert testimony; and procuring debtor-in-possession financing. The Financial and Valuation Advisory segment offers valuations of various assets, such as companies, illiquid debt and equity securities, and intellectual property. It also provides fairness opinions in connection with M&A and other transactions, solvency opinions in connection with corporate spin-offs and dividend recapitalizations, and other types of financial opinions. In addition, this segment offers dispute resolution services. It serves corporations, financial sponsors, and government agencies. The company was incorporated in 1972 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California.