Analyzing Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) and Intelligent Group (NASDAQ:INTJ)

Intelligent Group (NASDAQ:INTJ) and Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, earnings, dividends, institutional ownership, profitability and valuation.

Volatility & Risk

Intelligent Group has a beta of 1.47, indicating that its share price is 47% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Houlihan Lokey has a beta of 0.95, indicating that its share price is 5% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

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

Profitability

This table compares Intelligent Group and Houlihan Lokey’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Intelligent Group	N/A	N/A	N/A
Houlihan Lokey	16.26%	22.88%	13.33%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Intelligent Group and Houlihan Lokey”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Intelligent Group	$2.37 million	1.92	-$2.33 million	N/A	N/A
Houlihan Lokey	$2.62 billion	3.70	$425.70 million	$6.22	22.53

Houlihan Lokey has higher revenue and earnings than Intelligent Group.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Intelligent Group and Houlihan Lokey, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Intelligent Group	1	0	0	0	1.00
Houlihan Lokey	0	5	5	0	2.50

Houlihan Lokey has a consensus price target of $180.50, suggesting a potential upside of 28.81%. Given Houlihan Lokey’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Houlihan Lokey is more favorable than Intelligent Group.

Summary

Houlihan Lokey beats Intelligent Group on 11 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Intelligent Group

Intelligent Group Limited, through its subsidiaries, provides financial public relations services in the Hong Kong. The company offers financial PR services, such as creating multi-stakeholder communications programs, arranging press conferences and interviews, participating in the preparation of news releases and shareholders' meetings, monitoring news publications, identifying shareholders, targeting potential investors, organizing corporate events, and implementing crisis management policies and procedures. It provides training to its clients on public relations tactics and practices. It serves listing applicants and listed companies, as well as private companies, investors, and international investment banks. Intelligent Group Limited was founded in 2016 and is based in Admiralty, Hong Kong.

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.