JMP Securities Reaffirms “Market Perform” Rating for Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI)

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI)‘s stock had its “market perform” rating reaffirmed by JMP Securities in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on HLI. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $172.00 to $170.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $178.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Houlihan Lokey from $172.00 to $169.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com upgraded Houlihan Lokey from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley downgraded Houlihan Lokey from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $171.00 to $200.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $194.40.

Houlihan Lokey Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE HLI opened at $180.13 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $12.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.84 and a beta of 0.69. Houlihan Lokey has a twelve month low of $119.28 and a twelve month high of $192.10. The company has a 50 day moving average of $178.92 and a 200 day moving average of $166.78.

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.13. Houlihan Lokey had a return on equity of 19.29% and a net margin of 15.77%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Houlihan Lokey will post 5.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vista Finance LLC purchased a new stake in Houlihan Lokey in the 4th quarter worth approximately $348,000. Rhumbline Advisers increased its stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 166,038 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,834,000 after purchasing an additional 2,559 shares in the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 17,726 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,078,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 43.2% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 46,857 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,137,000 after purchasing an additional 14,141 shares during the period. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 14,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,588,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. 78.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.