Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) and Cosmos Group (OTCMKTS:COSG) Critical Review

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) and Cosmos Group (OTCMKTS:COSG) 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 Houlihan Lokey and Cosmos Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Houlihan Lokey	16.46%	23.75%	14.21%
Cosmos Group	N/A	-22.35%	60.70%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Houlihan Lokey and Cosmos Group”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Houlihan Lokey	$2.39 billion	5.92	$399.71 million	$5.94	33.88
Cosmos Group	$10,000.00	0.00	$4.69 million	N/A	N/A

Houlihan Lokey has higher revenue and earnings than Cosmos Group.

Risk and Volatility

Houlihan Lokey has a beta of 0.87, meaning that its stock price is 13% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Cosmos Group has a beta of 1.37, meaning that its stock price is 37% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings for Houlihan Lokey and Cosmos Group, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Houlihan Lokey	0	3	4	1	2.75
Cosmos Group	0	0	0	0	0.00

Houlihan Lokey currently has a consensus target price of $213.83, indicating a potential upside of 6.26%. Given Houlihan Lokey’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Houlihan Lokey is more favorable than Cosmos Group.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

78.1% of Houlihan Lokey shares are held by institutional investors. 22.8% of Houlihan Lokey shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.4% of Cosmos Group shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Houlihan Lokey beats Cosmos Group on 10 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Cosmos Group

Cosmos Group Holdings Inc. focuses on the physical artworks and collectibles business in Hong Kong and internationally. It operates online platform to sell and distribute the arts and collectibles to end-users with the use of blockchain technologies and minting tokens. The company is based in Singapore.