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. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a dividend of 0.57 per share by the financial services provider on Saturday, March 15th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd.

Houlihan Lokey has increased its dividend payment 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. Equities 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 Performance

Shares of HLI opened at $180.16 on Thursday. Houlihan Lokey has a twelve month low of $119.28 and a twelve month high of $192.10. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $179.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $166.69. 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 (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%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Houlihan Lokey will post 5.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $229.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $178.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock 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 previously from $170.00) on shares of Houlihan Lokey in a research report on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $194.40.

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 and Valuation Advisory.