Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) vs. Binah Capital Group (NASDAQ:BCG) Critical Comparison

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

Institutional and Insider Ownership

78.1% of Houlihan Lokey shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 5.0% of Binah Capital Group shares are held by institutional investors. 22.5% of Houlihan Lokey shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 7.8% of Binah Capital Group shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Houlihan Lokey and Binah Capital Group”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Houlihan Lokey	$2.56 billion	3.94	$425.70 million	$5.96	24.44
Binah Capital Group	$187.14 million	0.10	$2.31 million	$0.18	6.17

Houlihan Lokey has higher revenue and earnings than Binah Capital Group. Binah Capital Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Houlihan Lokey, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Houlihan Lokey	15.78%	19.94%	11.51%
Binah Capital Group	2.17%	195.38%	5.95%

Risk & Volatility

Houlihan Lokey has a beta of 0.9, meaning that its stock price is 10% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Binah Capital Group has a beta of 0.31, meaning that its stock price is 69% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Houlihan Lokey and Binah Capital Group, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Houlihan Lokey	0	5	7	0	2.58
Binah Capital Group	1	0	0	0	1.00

Houlihan Lokey presently has a consensus target price of $160.44, suggesting a potential upside of 10.14%. Given Houlihan Lokey’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Houlihan Lokey is more favorable than Binah Capital Group.

Summary

Houlihan Lokey beats Binah Capital Group on 13 of the 14 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 Binah Capital Group

Binah Capital Group, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates in the wealth management industry. The company provides access to stock, bond, exchange-traded fund, and options execution services; and research, compliance, supervision, and accounting and related services for financial advisors. It also offers mutual funds and insurance products, as well as alternative investments, such as non-traded real estate investment trusts, unit trusts, and fixed and variable annuities. The company was founded in 2016 and is headquartered in Albany, New York. Binah Capital Group, Inc. operates as a subsidiary of MHC Securities, LLC.