Prana Capital Management LP Buys Shares of 18,977 Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI)

Prana Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 18,977 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,296,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in HLI. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Houlihan Lokey by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,265,574 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $914,420,000 after buying an additional 98,495 shares during the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Houlihan Lokey by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 3,281,294 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $569,830,000 after purchasing an additional 208,851 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in Houlihan Lokey by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,875,220 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $325,651,000 after purchasing an additional 161,647 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Houlihan Lokey by 122.7% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,041,201 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $180,815,000 after purchasing an additional 573,745 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Houlihan Lokey during the 4th quarter valued at about $143,559,000. 78.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Houlihan Lokey Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE HLI opened at $178.74 on Thursday. Houlihan Lokey, Inc. has a twelve month low of $127.14 and a twelve month high of $192.10. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $159.71 and a 200 day moving average of $171.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.11 and a beta of 0.82.

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.35. Houlihan Lokey had a return on equity of 20.04% and a net margin of 16.00%. The company had revenue of $666.42 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $628.25 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.27 EPS. Houlihan Lokey’s quarterly revenue was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Houlihan Lokey, Inc. will post 5.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Houlihan Lokey Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This is a positive change from Houlihan Lokey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. Houlihan Lokey’s payout ratio is 41.24%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on HLI shares. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Houlihan Lokey in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Houlihan Lokey from $183.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Houlihan Lokey from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Houlihan Lokey from $172.00 to $169.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Houlihan Lokey from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Houlihan Lokey has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.