Huron Consulting Group Inc. (NASDAQ:HURN) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Huron Consulting Group Inc. (NASDAQ:HURN) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 259,500 shares, an increase of 9.7% from the August 15th total of 236,600 shares. Currently, 1.5% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 141,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.8 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HURN has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $137.00 price target on shares of Huron Consulting Group in a report on Monday, September 9th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $110.00 price target on shares of Huron Consulting Group in a report on Thursday, May 23rd. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $140.00 price target on shares of Huron Consulting Group in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Huron Consulting Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.75.

Huron Consulting Group Price Performance

Shares of HURN stock traded down $0.47 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $106.90. 89,267 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 132,600. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $106.61 and a 200 day moving average of $98.11. The company has a quick ratio of 1.93, a current ratio of 1.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. Huron Consulting Group has a 52-week low of $84.26 and a 52-week high of $115.65. The company has a market cap of $1.92 billion, a PE ratio of 30.94 and a beta of 0.61.

Huron Consulting Group (NASDAQ:HURN) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.20. Huron Consulting Group had a net margin of 5.46% and a return on equity of 20.44%. The business had revenue of $371.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $374.33 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.38 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Huron Consulting Group will post 5.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Huron Consulting Group

In related news, Director H Eugene Lockhart sold 1,042 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.48, for a total value of $114,078.16. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 29,882 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,271,481.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director H Eugene Lockhart sold 1,042 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.48, for a total value of $114,078.16. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 29,882 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,271,481.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO C. Mark Hussey sold 34,013 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.69, for a total transaction of $3,424,768.97. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 85,081 shares in the company, valued at $8,566,805.89. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 44,439 shares of company stock valued at $4,512,214 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.02% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Huron Consulting Group

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Huron Consulting Group during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Covestor Ltd raised its position in shares of Huron Consulting Group by 26,500.0% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 266 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Huron Consulting Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Huron Consulting Group during the 4th quarter worth about $97,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. raised its position in shares of Huron Consulting Group by 40.6% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,544 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $159,000 after purchasing an additional 446 shares during the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Huron Consulting Group

Huron Consulting Group Inc, a professional services firm, provides consultancy services in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Healthcare, Education, and Commercial. The Healthcare segment provides financial and operational performance improvement consulting services; digital offerings, spanning technology and analytic-related services; software products; organizational transformation services; revenue cycle managed and outsourcing services; financial and capital advisory consulting services; and strategy and innovation consulting services to national and regional health systems, academic and community health systems, federal health system, public, children’s and critical access hospitals, physician practices and medical groups, payors, and long-term care or post-acute providers.