Hamilton Lane Incorporated (NASDAQ:HLNE) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Hamilton Lane Incorporated (NASDAQ:HLNE - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,600,000 shares, a growth of 67.1% from the December 15th total of 957,300 shares. Currently, 4.3% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 395,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.0 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Hamilton Lane from $150.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Hamilton Lane from $194.00 to $163.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Hamilton Lane from $134.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of Hamilton Lane from $167.00 to $158.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Hamilton Lane from $182.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $168.33.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hamilton Lane

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hamilton Lane by 239.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,557 shares of the company's stock valued at $936,000 after buying an additional 3,922 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama purchased a new position in Hamilton Lane during the 3rd quarter valued at about $8,291,000. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Hamilton Lane during the third quarter worth about $819,000. Royce & Associates LP purchased a new stake in Hamilton Lane in the third quarter worth about $538,000. Finally, Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky increased its stake in shares of Hamilton Lane by 41.9% during the third quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 20,914 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,522,000 after purchasing an additional 6,178 shares in the last quarter. 97.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Hamilton Lane Trading Up 0.4 %

HLNE stock traded up $0.67 on Friday, reaching $150.26. The company's stock had a trading volume of 457,867 shares, compared to its average volume of 388,779. The firm has a market cap of $8.33 billion, a PE ratio of 32.59 and a beta of 1.24. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $170.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $160.02. Hamilton Lane has a 12-month low of $103.42 and a 12-month high of $203.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 3.37 and a current ratio of 3.37.

Hamilton Lane (NASDAQ:HLNE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.01. Hamilton Lane had a net margin of 28.03% and a return on equity of 35.59%. The firm had revenue of $150.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $151.55 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.89 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 18.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Hamilton Lane will post 4.88 EPS for the current year.

Hamilton Lane Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a $0.49 dividend. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Hamilton Lane's dividend payout ratio is currently 42.52%.

About Hamilton Lane

Hamilton Lane Incorporated is a private equity firm specializing in early venture, emerging growth, turnaround, middle market, mature, mid-venture, bridge, buyout, distressed/vulture, loan, mezzanine in growth capital companies. It prefers to invest in energy, industrials, consumer discretionary, health care, real estate, information technology, utilities, and consumer services.