CEPF vs HLI vs MC Stock Comparison

Cantor Equity Partners IV, Houlihan Lokey and Moelis Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
HLI Houlihan Lokey, Inc.
$131.27 +1.7% 1M -34.0% 1Y
Market cap
$8.81B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
—
Div. yield
–
Investment Banking Financial Services
2 wins
MC Moelis & Co
$55.26 -5.9% 1M -22.1% 1Y
Market cap
$4.22B
P/E
18.5x
Revenue (TTM)
—
Div. yield
0.05%
Investment Banking Financial Services
2 wins

Head to Head

6 decided of 12

Houlihan Lokey leads on 2 of the 12 questions below (Houlihan Lokey 2, Moelis 2, Cantor Equity Partners IV 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCEPFHLIMCLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $463.50M $8.81B $4.22B HLI
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 46.0x — 18.5x MC
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS — 19.5x 19.5x MC
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months — — — –
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months — — — –
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — — — –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — — — –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.05% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -2.2% -34.0% -22.1% CEPF
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years — +5.6%/yr -4.2%/yr HLI
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 4.1% 31.4% 38.4% CEPF
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers — — 73/100 –

Percentile Scorecard

CEPFHLIMC

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisCEPFHLIMC
Valuation – – 83 #17 of 97
Growth – – 72 #20 of 68
Profitability – – 100 #1 of 67
Financial Health 59 #40 of 97 – –
Shareholder Returns – 67 #14 of 40 36 #26 of 40
Overall – – 73
  • CEPF ranked among 112 companies in Capital Markets
  • HLI ranked among 112 companies in Capital Markets
  • MC ranked among 112 companies in Capital Markets

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodCEPFHLIMCSPY
1 month 0.0%+1.7%-5.9% -0.8%
3 months -1.7%-7.0%-18.5% +3.5%
6 months +0.4%-17.8%-21.4% +7.0%
Year to date +0.2%-24.6%-19.6% +12.2%
1 year -2.2%-34.0%-22.1% +13.0%
3 years —+33.4%+38.5% +86.3%
3 years, per year —+10.1%+11.5% +23.1%
5 years —+31.4%-19.4% +68.6%
5 years, per year —+5.6%-4.2% +11.0%
10 years —+432.5%+121.9% +258.0%
10 years, per year —+18.2%+8.3% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureCEPFHLIMCSPY
Volatility, 1Y 4.1%31.4%38.4% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 4.5%35.3%42.6% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.030.681.47 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.54-1.08-0.58 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -4.5%-41.0%-56.2% -25.4%
From 52-week high -3.0%-35.1%-28.9% -1.8%
52-week high $10.62$202.25$77.75 $779.14
52-week low $10.14$123.39$51.38 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleCEPFHLIMC
P/E now vs peer median 46.0xmedian 29.4x —median 29.4x 18.3xmedian 29.4x
P/S now vs peer median —median 2.9x —median 2.9x —median 2.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 13.7x —median 13.7x 15.3xmedian 13.7x
P/FCF now vs peer median —median 16.0x —median 16.0x 11.2xmedian 16.0x
P/B now vs peer median -2,717xmedian 2.3x 3.9xmedian 2.3x 7.6xmedian 2.3x
PEG now vs peer median —median 0.52 —median 0.52 0.25median 0.52

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsCEPFHLIMC
Operating income -$440.90K – $289.65M
Net income $10.08M – $256.51M
Free cash flow – – $433.41M
EPS (diluted) $0.18 – $2.89
Cash & equivalents $25.00K $1.19B $207.74M
Shares (diluted) 57.15M 68.43M 79.00M
Enterprise value $463.50M $4.84B $3.07B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricCEPFHLIMC
P/E 46.0x – 18.3x
P/FCF – – 11.2x
P/Operating cash flow – – 9.9x
P/S – – –
P/B -2,717x 3.9x 7.6x
P/Tangible book -2,717x 4.3x 7.6x
EV/EBITDA – – 15.3x
EV/EBIT -1,052x – 16.0x
EV/Revenue – – –
EV/FCF – – 10.7x
EV/Operating cash flow – – 9.5x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) – – 0.25

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCEPFHLIMC
Revenue growth (1Y) – – –
Revenue CAGR (3Y) – – –
Gross profit growth (1Y) – – –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – – –
Operating income growth (1Y) – – 18.4%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – – 75.6%
Net income growth (1Y) – – 16.8%
Net income CAGR (3Y) – – 83.4%
EPS growth (1Y) – – 14.7%
EPS CAGR (3Y) – – 74.3%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) – – -0.6%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – – 43.0%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – – -9.5%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – – 40.3%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCEPFHLIMC
Gross margin – – –
EBITDA margin – – –
Operating margin – – –
Pretax margin – – –
Net margin – – –
FCF margin – – –
Operating cash flow margin – – –
Return on equity – – 40.6%
Return on assets 2.2% – 19.0%
Return on invested capital – – –
Return on capital employed – – –
Asset turnover – – –
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) – – 1.9x
Stock comp / revenue – – –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCEPFHLIMC
Debt / assets 0.1% – –
Debt / equity -1.8x – –
Net debt / EBITDA – – –
Debt / FCF – – –
Liabilities / assets 100.0% 45.6% 54.4%
Equity / assets 0.0% 54.4% 45.6%
Interest coverage – – –
Current ratio – – –
Quick ratio – – –
Cash ratio – – –
Altman Z-score – – –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCEPFHLIMC
Dividend yield – 2.0% 4.7%
Net buyback yield – – –
Shareholder yield – 2.0% 4.7%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – 84.7%
Payout ratio (FCF) – – 50.1%
Dividend growth (1Y) – – 9.9%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – 6.6%

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusCEPFHLIMC
Forward P/E – 19.5xFY2026 19.5xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year – $6.72FY2026 $2.84FY2026
EPS growth, next FY – -11.1%FY2026 -5.0%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after – +24.3% +29.6%
Revenue, next fiscal year – $2.76BFY2026 $1.78BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY – +5.4%FY2026 +15.7%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after – +9.8% +8.4%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCEPFHLIMC
Held by institutions 89.9% 80.7% 100.0%
Institutions holding 91 518 393
Change in shares held, QoQ -2.6% +3.1% +0.2%
Institutions buying 24 236 217
Institutions selling 10 200 129
Buyers to sellers 2.40 1.18 1.68

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

CEPFHLIMC
CEPF 1.00 0.09 0.15
HLI 0.09 1.00 0.63
MC 0.15 0.63 1.00

Add a Peer

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CEPF, HLI and MC?

Houlihan Lokey (HLI) is the largest by market capitalisation: Cantor Equity Partners IV (CEPF) $463.50M, Houlihan Lokey (HLI) $8.81B, Moelis (MC) $4.22B.

Which stock is cheaper, CEPF, HLI and MC?

Moelis (MC) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Cantor Equity Partners IV (CEPF) 46.0x, Moelis (MC) 18.5x). On next year's consensus earnings, Moelis (MC) is cheapest (Houlihan Lokey (HLI) 19.5x, Moelis (MC) 19.5x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Cantor Equity Partners IV (CEPF) returned the most: Cantor Equity Partners IV (CEPF) -2.2%, Houlihan Lokey (HLI) -34.0%, Moelis (MC) -22.1%. Over five years, Houlihan Lokey (HLI) compounded fastest (Houlihan Lokey (HLI) +5.6%/yr, Moelis (MC) -4.2%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Cantor Equity Partners IV (CEPF) 0.00%, Houlihan Lokey (HLI) 0.00%, Moelis (MC) 0.05%. Cantor Equity Partners IV (CEPF) and Houlihan Lokey (HLI) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Cantor Equity Partners IV (CEPF) has been the steadiest (Cantor Equity Partners IV (CEPF) 4.1%, Houlihan Lokey (HLI) 31.4%, Moelis (MC) 38.4%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, CEPF, HLI and MC?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Houlihan Lokey (HLI) leads on 2. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.