Houlihan Lokey, Inc. to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.57 (NYSE:HLI)

Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, January 29th,Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of 0.57 per share by the financial services provider on Saturday, March 15th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd.

Houlihan Lokey has raised its dividend by an average of 11.7% annually over the last three years. Houlihan Lokey has a payout ratio of 28.3% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Houlihan Lokey to earn $7.06 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.28 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 32.3%.

Houlihan Lokey Stock Down 2.1 %

Houlihan Lokey stock traded down $3.92 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $180.16. 653,512 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 439,584. Houlihan Lokey has a 52 week low of $119.28 and a 52 week high of $192.10. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $179.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $166.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.52 billion, a PE ratio of 36.84 and a beta of 0.69.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on HLI shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $178.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $200.00 to $201.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. StockNews.com raised shares of Houlihan Lokey from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Houlihan Lokey in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $192.00 price objective (up from $170.00) on shares of Houlihan Lokey in a research report on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Houlihan Lokey currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $194.40.

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.