CEPF vs JEF vs HLI Stock Comparison

Cantor Equity Partners IV, Jefferies Financial and Houlihan Lokey Prices as of Nov 3, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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HLI Houlihan Lokey, Inc.
$146.75 +16.1% 1M -17.6% 1Y
Market cap
$10.23B
P/E
25.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$2.56B
Div. yield
–
Investment Banking Financial Services
3 wins

Head to Head

9 decided of 12

Jefferies Financial leads on 4 of the 12 questions below (Jefferies Financial 4, Houlihan Lokey 3, Cantor Equity Partners IV 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCEPFJEFHLILeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $465.30M $10.13B $10.23B HLI
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 32.7x 11.8x 25.5x JEF
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS — 12.6x 21.8x JEF
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months — +13.5% -0.4% JEF
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months — 7.0% 15.7% HLI
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 25.7% — –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — -2.7x — –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.04% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -1.6% -8.2% -17.6% CEPF
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years — +3.2%/yr +4.5%/yr HLI
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 4.0% 41.4% 30.3% CEPF
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers — 75/100 51/100 JEF

Percentile Scorecard

CEPFJEFHLI

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

AxisCEPFJEFHLI
Valuation 74 #28 of 103 97 #4 of 103 64 #38 of 103
Growth – 71 #21 of 70 19 #57 of 70
Profitability – 80 #16 of 74 60 #30 of 74
Financial Health 58 #42 of 99 59 #41 of 99 –
Shareholder Returns – 68 #14 of 41 63 #16 of 41
Overall – 75 51
  • CEPF ranked among 110 companies in Capital Markets
  • JEF ranked among 110 companies in Capital Markets
  • HLI ranked among 110 companies in Capital Markets

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodCEPFJEFHLISPY
1 month +0.7%+5.7%+16.1% -2.0%
3 months -0.7%-12.8%+14.4% -2.2%
6 months +0.9%-2.9%-2.3% +4.2%
Year to date +0.6%-21.6%-15.8% +10.6%
1 year -1.6%-8.2%-17.6% +10.4%
3 years —+39.3%+38.7% +73.6%
3 years, per year —+11.7%+11.5% +20.2%
5 years —+17.0%+24.4% +61.6%
5 years, per year —+3.2%+4.5% +10.1%
10 years —+199.9%+526.9% +261.3%
10 years, per year —+11.6%+20.2% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureCEPFJEFHLISPY
Volatility, 1Y 4.0%41.4%30.3% 12.8%
Downside volatility, 1Y 4.4%48.7%32.1% 12.8%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.031.610.68 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.40-0.20-0.58 0.81
Max drawdown, 5Y -4.5%-55.9%-41.0% -25.4%
From 52-week high -1.7%-26.7%-23.6% -3.2%
52-week high $10.52$66.26$192.07 $779.14
52-week low $10.14$36.02$123.39 $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.

MultipleCEPFJEFHLI
P/E now vs peer median 32.7xmedian 29.4x 11.3xmedian 29.4x 24.3xmedian 29.4x
P/S now vs peer median —median 3.0x 0.9xmedian 3.0x 4.0xmedian 3.0x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 13.1x -0.4xmedian 13.1x 16.9xmedian 13.1x
P/FCF now vs peer median -141,386xmedian 14.8x 2.7xmedian 14.8x 25.3xmedian 14.8x
P/B now vs peer median -2,727xmedian 2.4x 1.0xmedian 2.4x 4.4xmedian 2.4x
PEG now vs peer median —median 0.55 0.27median 0.55 1.39median 0.55

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 monthsCEPFJEFHLI
Revenue – $12.17B $2.56B
Gross profit – $12.01B –
Operating income -$564.40K $4.63B $517.88M
Net income $14.23M $908.87M $404.38M
Free cash flow -$3.29K $4.20B $401.82M
EPS (diluted) $0.25 $4.15 $6.00
Cash & equivalents $25.00K $16.88B $837.00M
Total debt $299.96K $3.80B –
Shares (diluted) 57.15M 206.35M 67.00M
Enterprise value $465.12M -$47.07B $6.40B

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
MetricCEPFJEFHLI
P/E 32.7x 11.3x 24.3x
P/FCF -141,386x 2.7x 25.3x
P/Operating cash flow -141,386x 2.5x 23.8x
P/S – 0.9x 4.0x
P/B -2,727x 1.0x 4.4x
P/Tangible book -2,727x 1.0x 4.9x
EV/EBITDA – -0.4x 16.9x
EV/EBIT -824.9x -0.4x 18.0x
EV/Revenue – -0.2x 3.7x
EV/FCF -141,469x -0.5x 23.3x
EV/Operating cash flow -141,469x -0.4x 21.9x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) – 0.27 1.39

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCEPFJEFHLI
Revenue growth (1Y) – 13.5% -0.4%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) – 18.7% 12.7%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – 14.3% –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – 18.7% –
Operating income growth (1Y) – 10.2% -0.1%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – 19.6% 15.2%
Net income growth (1Y) – 30.8% -5.1%
Net income CAGR (3Y) – 39.8% 17.2%
EPS growth (1Y) – 43.1% -3.5%
EPS CAGR (3Y) – 41.8% 17.5%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) – 352.5% -47.7%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 70.5% 8.8%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – 313.1% -48.7%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 65.3% 15.7%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCEPFJEFHLI
Gross margin – 98.7% –
EBITDA margin – 39.6% 21.6%
Operating margin – 38.1% 20.3%
Pretax margin – 9.3% 21.5%
Net margin – 7.0% 15.7%
FCF margin – 34.5% 15.7%
Operating cash flow margin – 36.3% 16.7%
Return on equity – 8.5% 17.7%
Return on assets 3.1% 1.1% 10.5%
Return on invested capital – 25.7% –
Return on capital employed – – –
Asset turnover – 0.2x 0.7x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 0.0x 4.9x 1.1x
Stock comp / revenue – 1.0% 7.8%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCEPFJEFHLI
Debt / assets 0.1% 4.7% –
Debt / equity -1.8x 0.4x –
Net debt / EBITDA – -2.7x –
Debt / FCF -91.1x 0.9x –
Liabilities / assets 100.0% 86.8% 42.0%
Equity / assets 0.0% 13.2% 58.0%
Interest coverage – 1.3x –
Current ratio – – –
Quick ratio – – –
Cash ratio – – –
Altman Z-score – – –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCEPFJEFHLI
Dividend yield – 3.3% 1.8%
Net buyback yield – 3.9% 2.3%
Shareholder yield – 7.2% 4.1%
Payout ratio (earnings) – 40.7% –
Payout ratio (FCF) – 8.8% –
Dividend growth (1Y) – 2.2% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – 10.1% –

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.

ConsensusCEPFJEFHLI
Forward P/E – 12.6xFY2026 21.8xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year – $3.87FY2026 $6.72FY2026
EPS growth, next FY – +36.7%FY2026 -11.1%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after – +25.3% +24.3%
Revenue, next fiscal year – $8.84BFY2026 $2.76BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY – +20.5%FY2026 +5.4%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after – +0.8% +9.8%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCEPFJEFHLI
Held by institutions 89.9% 63.8% 80.7%
Institutions holding 91 587 520
Change in shares held, QoQ -2.6% -2.3% +3.1%
Institutions buying 24 283 237
Institutions selling 10 202 200
Buyers to sellers 2.40 1.40 1.19

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.

CEPFJEFHLI
CEPF 1.00 0.18 0.10
JEF 0.18 1.00 0.51
HLI 0.10 0.51 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CEPF, JEF and HLI?

Houlihan Lokey (HLI) is the largest by market capitalisation: Cantor Equity Partners IV (CEPF) $465.30M, Jefferies Financial (JEF) $10.13B, Houlihan Lokey (HLI) $10.23B.

Which stock is cheaper, CEPF, JEF and HLI?

Jefferies Financial (JEF) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Cantor Equity Partners IV (CEPF) 32.7x, Jefferies Financial (JEF) 11.8x, Houlihan Lokey (HLI) 25.5x). On next year's consensus earnings, Jefferies Financial (JEF) is cheapest (Jefferies Financial (JEF) 12.6x, Houlihan Lokey (HLI) 21.8x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Jefferies Financial (JEF) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Jefferies Financial (JEF) +13.5%, Houlihan Lokey (HLI) -0.4%.

Which company is more profitable?

Houlihan Lokey (HLI) has the highest net margin (Jefferies Financial (JEF) 7.0%, Houlihan Lokey (HLI) 15.7%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Cantor Equity Partners IV (CEPF) returned the most: Cantor Equity Partners IV (CEPF) -1.6%, Jefferies Financial (JEF) -8.2%, Houlihan Lokey (HLI) -17.6%. Over five years, Houlihan Lokey (HLI) compounded fastest (Jefferies Financial (JEF) +3.2%/yr, Houlihan Lokey (HLI) +4.5%/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%, Jefferies Financial (JEF) 0.04%, Houlihan Lokey (HLI) 0.00%. 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) 4.0%, Jefferies Financial (JEF) 41.4%, Houlihan Lokey (HLI) 30.3%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Jefferies Financial (JEF) leads on 4. 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.