CEPF vs HLI vs PJT Stock Comparison

Cantor Equity Partners IV, Houlihan Lokey and PJT Partners Prices as of Nov 5, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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HLI Houlihan Lokey, Inc.
$147.26 +15.0% 1M -17.9% 1Y
Market cap
$9.82B
P/E
24.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$2.56B
Div. yield
–
Investment Banking Financial Services
2 wins
PJT PJT Partners Inc.
$153.45 +9.9% 1M -8.3% 1Y
Market cap
$4.04B
P/E
21.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.82B
Div. yield
–
Investment Banking Financial Services
5 wins

Head to Head

9 decided of 12

PJT Partners leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (PJT Partners 5, Houlihan Lokey 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.

QuestionCEPFHLIPJTLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $464.40M $9.82B $4.04B HLI
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 32.6x 24.4x 21.1x PJT
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS — 20.9x 20.5x PJT
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months — -0.4% +10.2% PJT
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months — 15.7% 10.5% HLI
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — — — –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — — — –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield — 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -1.9% -17.9% -8.3% CEPF
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years — +4.8%/yr +13.0%/yr PJT
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 4.0% 31.1% 34.8% CEPF
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers — 51/100 67/100 PJT

Percentile Scorecard

CEPFHLIPJT

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

AxisCEPFHLIPJT
Valuation 71 #31 of 103 62 #40 of 103 82 #19 of 103
Growth – 20 #56 of 70 55 #32 of 70
Profitability – 62 #29 of 74 82 #14 of 74
Financial Health 59 #42 of 100 – –
Shareholder Returns – 62 #16 of 40 49 #21 of 40
Overall – 51 67
  • CEPF ranked among 110 companies in Capital Markets
  • HLI ranked among 110 companies in Capital Markets
  • PJT ranked among 110 companies in Capital Markets

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodCEPFHLIPJTSPY
1 month +0.3%+15.0%+9.9% -5.9%
3 months -0.7%+15.5%-11.1% -4.6%
6 months +0.1%-4.1%+0.2% +0.2%
Year to date +0.4%-15.5%-8.2% +7.5%
1 year -1.9%-17.9%-8.3% +8.2%
3 years —+40.8%+85.1% +68.3%
3 years, per year —+12.1%+22.8% +19.0%
5 years —+26.4%+84.2% +56.5%
5 years, per year —+4.8%+13.0% +9.4%
10 years —+527.2%+468.5% +251.5%
10 years, per year —+20.2%+19.0% +13.4%

Risk

MeasureCEPFHLIPJTSPY
Volatility, 1Y 4.0%31.1%34.8% 13.6%
Downside volatility, 1Y 4.4%32.7%35.9% 14.2%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.030.760.96 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.48-0.58-0.24 0.60
Max drawdown, 5Y -4.5%-41.0%-35.1% -25.4%
From 52-week high -1.9%-23.3%-19.8% -5.9%
52-week high $10.52$192.07$191.42 $779.14
52-week low $10.14$123.39$129.05 $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.

MultipleCEPFHLIPJT
P/E now vs peer median 32.6xmedian 28.4x 24.4xmedian 28.4x 21.4xmedian 28.4x
P/S now vs peer median —median 2.9x 4.0xmedian 2.9x 2.2xmedian 2.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 13.2x 17.0xmedian 13.2x 9.8xmedian 13.2x
P/FCF now vs peer median -141,112xmedian 15.1x 25.4xmedian 15.1x 6.0xmedian 15.1x
P/B now vs peer median -2,722xmedian 2.3x 4.4xmedian 2.3x 3.9xmedian 2.3x
PEG now vs peer median —median 0.47 1.40median 0.47 1.57median 0.47

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 monthsCEPFHLIPJT
Revenue – $2.56B $1.82B
Operating income -$564.40K $517.88M –
Net income $14.23M $404.38M $325.74M
Free cash flow -$3.29K $401.82M $687.98M
EPS (diluted) $0.25 $6.00 $4.49
Cash & equivalents $25.00K $837.00M $257.37M
Total debt $299.96K – –
Shares (diluted) 57.15M 67.00M 42.70M
Enterprise value $464.22M $5.99B $2.70B

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
MetricCEPFHLIPJT
P/E 32.6x 24.4x 21.4x
P/FCF -141,112x 25.4x 6.0x
P/Operating cash flow -141,112x 23.9x 5.6x
P/S – 4.0x 2.2x
P/B -2,722x 4.4x 3.9x
P/Tangible book -2,722x 4.9x 3.9x
EV/EBITDA – 17.0x 9.8x
EV/EBIT -823.3x 18.1x 10.3x
EV/Revenue – 3.7x 2.1x
EV/FCF -141,196x 23.4x 5.6x
EV/Operating cash flow -141,196x 22.0x 5.2x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) – 1.40 1.57

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCEPFHLIPJT
Revenue growth (1Y) – -0.4% 10.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) – 12.7% 18.2%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – – –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – – –
Operating income growth (1Y) – -0.1% –
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – 15.2% –
Net income growth (1Y) – -5.1% 8.0%
Net income CAGR (3Y) – 17.2% 30.6%
EPS growth (1Y) – -3.5% -27.9%
EPS CAGR (3Y) – 17.5% 13.6%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) – -47.7% 29.4%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 8.8% 37.4%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – -48.7% 28.1%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 15.7% 35.3%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCEPFHLIPJT
Gross margin – – –
EBITDA margin – 21.6% 21.4%
Operating margin – 20.3% –
Pretax margin – 21.5% 20.5%
Net margin – 15.7% 10.5%
FCF margin – 15.7% 37.7%
Operating cash flow margin – 16.7% 40.1%
Return on equity – 17.7% 32.0%
Return on assets 3.1% 10.5% 17.6%
Return on invested capital – – –
Return on capital employed – – –
Asset turnover – 0.7x 1.0x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 0.0x 1.1x 2.2x
Stock comp / revenue – 7.8% 13.2%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCEPFHLIPJT
Debt / assets 0.1% – –
Debt / equity -1.8x – –
Net debt / EBITDA – – –
Debt / FCF -91.1x – –
Liabilities / assets 100.0% 42.0% 45.7%
Equity / assets 0.0% 58.0% 54.3%
Interest coverage – – –
Current ratio – – –
Quick ratio – – –
Cash ratio – – –
Altman Z-score – – –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCEPFHLIPJT
Dividend yield – 1.8% 0.7%
Net buyback yield – 2.3% 3.4%
Shareholder yield – 4.1% 4.1%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – –
Payout ratio (FCF) – – –
Dividend growth (1Y) – – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – –

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.

ConsensusCEPFHLIPJT
Forward P/E – 20.9xFY2026 20.5xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year – $7.03FY2026 $7.50FY2026
EPS growth, next FY – -7.0%FY2026 +7.4%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after – +19.8% +11.3%
Revenue, next fiscal year – $2.87BFY2026 $1.92BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY – +9.4%FY2026 +12.1%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after – +6.8% +5.1%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCEPFHLIPJT
Held by institutions 89.9% 80.7% 59.4%
Institutions holding 91 520 417
Change in shares held, QoQ -2.6% +3.1% +10.0%
Institutions buying 24 237 220
Institutions selling 10 200 104
Buyers to sellers 2.40 1.19 2.12

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.

CEPFHLIPJT
CEPF 1.00 0.10 0.07
HLI 0.10 1.00 0.69
PJT 0.07 0.69 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CEPF, HLI and PJT?

Houlihan Lokey (HLI) is the largest by market capitalisation: Cantor Equity Partners IV (CEPF) $464.40M, Houlihan Lokey (HLI) $9.82B, PJT Partners (PJT) $4.04B.

Which stock is cheaper, CEPF, HLI and PJT?

PJT Partners (PJT) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Cantor Equity Partners IV (CEPF) 32.6x, Houlihan Lokey (HLI) 24.4x, PJT Partners (PJT) 21.1x). On next year's consensus earnings, PJT Partners (PJT) is cheapest (Houlihan Lokey (HLI) 20.9x, PJT Partners (PJT) 20.5x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

PJT Partners (PJT) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Houlihan Lokey (HLI) -0.4%, PJT Partners (PJT) +10.2%.

Which company is more profitable?

Houlihan Lokey (HLI) has the highest net margin (Houlihan Lokey (HLI) 15.7%, PJT Partners (PJT) 10.5%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Cantor Equity Partners IV (CEPF) returned the most: Cantor Equity Partners IV (CEPF) -1.9%, Houlihan Lokey (HLI) -17.9%, PJT Partners (PJT) -8.3%. Over five years, PJT Partners (PJT) compounded fastest (Houlihan Lokey (HLI) +4.8%/yr, PJT Partners (PJT) +13.0%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Cantor Equity Partners IV (CEPF) has been the steadiest (Cantor Equity Partners IV (CEPF) 4.0%, Houlihan Lokey (HLI) 31.1%, PJT Partners (PJT) 34.8%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, PJT Partners (PJT) leads on 5. 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.