# Huron Consulting Group (HURN.US)

Canonical: https://gigainvestors.com/s/HURN

Analysis as of: 2026-10-16T07:29:11.956Z. Financial observations: FY2002–FY2025.

Listing currency: USD. Reporting currency: USD.

## Verdict

Not a wonderful business

Quality tests for Buy: not passed (profit record: pass; earnings resilience is evidence only). Published buy qualification: no.

Share price: $175.47 per share; close as of 2026-10-15.

Estimated value: low $106.66 per share, central $140.16 per share, high $163.99 per share. Buy at or below the central value $140.16 per share. Valuation as of 2026-10-16T07:29:11.956Z; scenarios are not confidence intervals.

Expected annual return: 8.6% at the stated quote. About 8.6% a year at today's price (required return 10.0%). required return 10.0% a year (10% floor; US 10-year bond 5.1% + 4 points).

## Checklist

### understandable: fail

- 1 revenue decline in the last 10 years (informational)

- operating margin variation exceeds 0.35

- Financial history: 10 years

- Years with declining revenue: 1

- Years with a net loss: 2

- Operating margin variation: 2.93×

Chart: Operating margin; fiscal year observations.

- FY2016: 0.10×

- FY2017: -0.28×

- FY2018: 0.07×

- FY2019: 0.07×

- FY2020: -0.03×

- FY2021: 0.06×

- FY2022: 0.09×

- FY2023: 0.09×

- FY2024: 0.11×

- FY2025: 0.12×

### moat: fail

- ROIC worst years below threshold (more than 1 bad year allowed)

- ROIC, median of available years: 23.9%

- ROIC, second-lowest year: -13.9%

- Typical minus recent gross margin: 1.5 pp

- Typical gross margin (annual median): 31.4%

- Recent gross margin (lower of latest and 3-year median): 29.9%

- Years with nonpositive capital: 0

- Capital spending / revenue: 2.0%

- ROIC including acquisitions, ten-year median: 7.1%

Chart: ROIC excluding acquisitions; fiscal year observations.

- FY2016: 40.2%

- FY2017: -89.2%

- FY2018: 21.3%

- FY2019: 20.2%

- FY2020: -13.9%

- FY2021: 18.3%

- FY2022: 26.6%

- FY2023: 34.7%

- FY2024: 49.3%

- FY2025: 58.4%

### economics: pass

- Owner earnings / net income, 5-yr: 1.12×

- Cash conversion uses consolidated totals: No

- Owner earnings, five-year total: $475M

- Net income, five-year total: $423M

- Return on incremental invested capital: 80.6%

- Working capital / revenue, annual change: 0.4 pp

- Working capital / revenue, change between three-year averages: 2.7 pp

- Working capital / revenue, final three-year average: 23.6%

Chart: Annual owner cash / profit; fiscal year observations.

- FY2021: 1.16×

- FY2022: 1.04×

- FY2023: 1.00×

- FY2024: 1.14×

- FY2025: 1.21×

### management: pass

- Historical market-dollar context (not the management verdict): 2016 to 2025 (9 years)

- potential debt-funded buybacks (informational)

- buybacks leaned toward cheaper years (informational)

- ROIC first 3 years vs last 3 years: 21.3% vs 49.3%

- Per-share earnings: 1.76 to 5.84 (three-year endpoint medians)

- Management verdict uses per-share economic progress: Yes

- Ordinary dilution, 10-year annual growth: -2.3%

- Ordinary dilution, 5-year annual growth: -3.8%

- Market cap gain: $2.0B

- Cumulative retained earnings: $285M

- Diluted shares, 10-year annual growth: -2.3%

- Diluted shares, 5-year annual growth: -3.8%

- $1 test, starting fiscal year: FY2016

- $1 test, ending fiscal year: FY2025

- Per-share value growth: 16.2%

- Per-share value change: $4.08

- Per-share value, starting three-year median: $1.76

- Per-share value, ending three-year median: $5.84

- Buybacks concentrated in cheaper years (correlation): 0.82

- Average buyback yield: 4.4%

- Buyback history: 10 years

- Debt-funded buybacks: Yes

- Acquisition spending: $289M

- Cumulative net income, 10 years: $322M

- ROIC, first three-year median: 21.3%

- ROIC, last three-year median: 49.3%

Chart: Earnings per share; fiscal year observations.

- FY2016: $1.76

- FY2017: -$7.93

- FY2018: $0.62

- FY2019: $1.85

- FY2020: -$1.08

- FY2021: $2.89

- FY2022: $3.64

- FY2023: $3.19

- FY2024: $6.27

- FY2025: $5.84

### accounting: pass

- stock compensation exceeds 15% of operating cash flow

- Sloan accruals: -5.8%

- Receivables to sales index (DSRI): 0.95×

- Restructuring years, last five: 0

- Stock compensation / operating cash flow: 24.1%

- Earnings backed by cash: Yes

- Operating cash / earnings: 1.84×

- Accounting red flags: 1

- Goodwill and intangibles / equity: 1.63×

Chart: Sloan accruals; fiscal year observations.

- FY2016: -7.9%

- FY2017: -26.0%

- FY2018: -8.4%

- FY2019: -8.2%

- FY2020: -15.3%

- FY2021: 4.0%

- FY2022: -0.8%

- FY2023: -5.8%

- FY2024: -6.3%

- FY2025: -5.8%

## Holders

## Price story

Price needs cash profits to grow 7.2% a year for ten years · sales +14.3%

Story as of 2026-10-16T09:58:55.189Z; price observation 2026-10-15.

Price needs cash profits to grow 7.2% a year for ten years

- 2025-10-29: HURN Q3 Deep Dive: Broad-Based Segment Growth and AI Expansion Shape Outlook ([finance.yahoo.com](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/hurn-q3-deep-dive-broad-123048311.html))

- 2026-07-28: Huron Announces Record Second Quarter 2026 Financial Results and Increases 2026 Guidance ([finance.yahoo.com](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/huron-announces-record-second-quarter-200500332.html))

- 2026-08-24: Huron Consulting Group (HURN) Stock May Be Below Fair Value On Raised Guidance ([finance.yahoo.com](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/huron-consulting-group-hurn-stock-120816548.html))

### Sales · FY2024–2025

sales +14.3%; source https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1289848/000162828026011093/hurn-20251231.htm; observed 2026-02-24.

- FY2016: $726M 

- FY2017: $733M 

- FY2018: $795M 

- FY2019: $877M 

- FY2020: $844M 

- FY2021: $906M 

- FY2022: $1.1B 

- FY2023: $1.4B 

- FY2024: $1.5B 

- FY2025: $1.7B 

### Gross margin · FY2025

gross margin 29.9%; source https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1289848/000162828026011093/hurn-20251231.htm; observed 2026-02-24.

- FY2016: 39.8% 

- FY2017: 37.9% 

- FY2018: 34.4% 

- FY2019: 34.3% 

- FY2020: 29.8% 

- FY2021: 29.7% 

- FY2022: 30.6% 

- FY2023: 30.8% 

- FY2024: 32.0% 

- FY2025: 29.9% 

## Owner memo

Memo as of 2026-10-16T08:06:05.509Z.

### How it makes money

Operates in consulting services; annual sales are USD 1.7 billion.

- Source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1289848/000162828026011093/hurn-20251231.htm (filed 2026-02-24); FY2025: revenue 1699143000; grossProfit 508793000; margin = grossProfit / revenue.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16); HURN.US: Huron Consulting Group Inc. provides global professional services in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Healthcare, Education, and Commercial. The company offers financial and operational performance improvement consulting services; digital services; spanning technology and analytic-related services, including enterprise health record, enterprise resource planning, enterprise performance management, customer relationship management, data management, artificial intelligence and automation, technology managed services, and a portfolio of software products; organizational transformation; revenue cycle managed services and outsourcing; financial and capital advisory consulting; and strategy and innovation consulting. It also provides research-focused consulting and managed services, as well as Huron Research product suite, a software suite designed to facilitate and improve research administration service delivery and compliance. In addition, the company offers software products, financial capital advisory services, regulatory compliance and risk management consulting, and Commercial consulting. The company serves healthcare, education, financial services, industrials and manufacturing, energy and utilities, public sector, and other commercial industries. The company was incorporated in 2002 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.

### Why customers stay

Margins ranged from 29.9% to 32% during 2023–25; it earns 23.9% on its capital.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-24); FY2023: grossProfit / revenue = 30.8%.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-24); FY2024: grossProfit / revenue = 32%.

- Source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1289848/000162828026011093/hurn-20251231.htm (filed 2026-02-24); FY2025: grossProfit / revenue = 29.9%.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-24); 10-year return on capital observations [[2016,0.4019214008151919],[2017,-0.8920993070713559],[2018,0.2126514233322239],[2019,0.20215635696620773],[2020,-0.13864150897489705],[2021,0.18280432410756406],[2022,0.26563295102333456],[2023,0.34713786467814445],[2024,0.4930377479158505],[2025,0.5835767000278949]]; median 0.23914218717777924. ROIC follows the displayed moat series; financial companies use return on tangible equity.

### Can it raise prices

Kept about a 31% gross margin through 2022 cost inflation.

- Source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1289848/000162828026011093/hurn-20251231.htm (filed 2026-02-24); Gross margin observations: [[2021,0.29687734640696084],[2022,0.3060377675051106],[2023,0.3078887861034022]]; range within 2 percentage points.

### Where the cash goes

Paid dividends in 5 of 10 years; bought back USD 166.7 million of shares.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-24); FY2016: growth capex 0; upkeep 15022000; owner earnings 69411000. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-24); FY2018: growth capex 0; upkeep 15005000; owner earnings 37952000. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-24); FY2019: growth capex 0; upkeep 23552000; owner earnings 52596000. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-24); FY2021: growth capex 0; upkeep 15760000; owner earnings 73205000. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-24); FY2022: growth capex 0; upkeep 24299000; owner earnings 78612000. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-24); FY2023: growth capex 10248000; upkeep 24938000; owner earnings 62479000. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.16402311176555323.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-24); FY2024: growth capex 0; upkeep 8651000; owner earnings 133275000. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.

- Source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1289848/000162828026011093/hurn-20251231.htm (filed 2026-02-24); FY2025: growth capex 0; upkeep 10437000; owner earnings 127032000. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-24); Dividend observations: [[2016,0],[2017,267940000],[2018,0],[2019,1244000],[2020,1002999],[2021,804000],[2022,0],[2023,2524000],[2024,0],[2025,0]]. Zero only counted when supported by a complete cash-flow statement.

- Source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1289848/000162828026011093/hurn-20251231.htm (filed 2026-02-24); FY2025: cash repurchases 166725000 USD.

### Are managers owners

Insiders own 2.6% of the company.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16); HURN.US SharesStats.PercentInsiders = 2.648 percentage points; cache date 2026-10-16.

### What the price says

The price assumes cash profits grow 7.2% yearly over ten years; actual growth was 5%.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-24); Ten-year compound average after fade. Initial solved rate 0.0909777704211725. Price 175.47; FX 1; discount 0.1; same standard ten-year fade to terminal 0.03. FY2015 owner earnings/share 4.321592920353982 → FY2025 7.060863765215942. Closing-price date 2026-10-15.

## Monthly share-price history (USD per share)

- 2016-10: $56.05 per share

- 2016-11: $52.75 per share

- 2016-12: $50.65 per share

- 2017-01: $45.30 per share

- 2017-02: $43.45 per share

- 2017-03: $42.10 per share

- 2017-04: $44.50 per share

- 2017-05: $41.55 per share

- 2017-06: $43.20 per share

- 2017-07: $35.50 per share

- 2017-08: $30.25 per share

- 2017-09: $34.30 per share

- 2017-10: $36.60 per share

- 2017-11: $40.90 per share

- 2017-12: $40.45 per share

- 2018-01: $40.15 per share

- 2018-02: $35.00 per share

- 2018-03: $38.10 per share

- 2018-04: $37.45 per share

- 2018-05: $40.50 per share

- 2018-06: $40.90 per share

- 2018-07: $43.65 per share

- 2018-08: $49.50 per share

- 2018-09: $49.40 per share

- 2018-10: $54.49 per share

- 2018-11: $55.67 per share

- 2018-12: $51.31 per share

- 2019-01: $48.35 per share

- 2019-02: $45.82 per share

- 2019-03: $47.22 per share

- 2019-04: $48.33 per share

- 2019-05: $49.23 per share

- 2019-06: $50.38 per share

- 2019-07: $60.97 per share

- 2019-08: $61.21 per share

- 2019-09: $61.34 per share

- 2019-10: $66.14 per share

- 2019-11: $67.05 per share

- 2019-12: $68.72 per share

- 2020-01: $64.81 per share

- 2020-02: $59.34 per share

- 2020-03: $45.36 per share

- 2020-04: $56.04 per share

- 2020-05: $46.26 per share

- 2020-06: $44.25 per share

- 2020-07: $47.72 per share

- 2020-08: $43.38 per share

- 2020-09: $39.33 per share

- 2020-10: $37.86 per share

- 2020-11: $44.07 per share

- 2020-12: $58.95 per share

- 2021-01: $52.96 per share

- 2021-02: $50.90 per share

- 2021-03: $50.38 per share

- 2021-04: $56.26 per share

- 2021-05: $54.71 per share

- 2021-06: $49.15 per share

- 2021-07: $49.13 per share

- 2021-08: $49.37 per share

- 2021-09: $52.00 per share

- 2021-10: $50.16 per share

- 2021-11: $45.69 per share

- 2021-12: $49.90 per share

- 2022-01: $44.12 per share

- 2022-02: $49.33 per share

- 2022-03: $45.81 per share

- 2022-04: $51.78 per share

- 2022-05: $59.92 per share

- 2022-06: $64.99 per share

- 2022-07: $67.10 per share

- 2022-08: $66.90 per share

- 2022-09: $66.25 per share

- 2022-10: $73.63 per share

- 2022-11: $77.86 per share

- 2022-12: $72.60 per share

- 2023-01: $68.04 per share

- 2023-02: $70.19 per share

- 2023-03: $80.37 per share

- 2023-04: $84.79 per share

- 2023-05: $81.28 per share

- 2023-06: $84.91 per share

- 2023-07: $94.57 per share

- 2023-08: $99.95 per share

- 2023-09: $104.16 per share

- 2023-10: $99.36 per share

- 2023-11: $104.17 per share

- 2023-12: $102.80 per share

- 2024-01: $103.53 per share

- 2024-02: $98.13 per share

- 2024-03: $96.62 per share

- 2024-04: $93.24 per share

- 2024-05: $88.31 per share

- 2024-06: $98.50 per share

- 2024-07: $110.01 per share

- 2024-08: $110.44 per share

- 2024-09: $108.70 per share

- 2024-10: $115.73 per share

- 2024-11: $122.81 per share

- 2024-12: $124.26 per share

- 2025-01: $126.78 per share

- 2025-02: $152.46 per share

- 2025-03: $143.45 per share

- 2025-04: $134.79 per share

- 2025-05: $142.83 per share

- 2025-06: $137.54 per share

- 2025-07: $132.08 per share

- 2025-08: $136.96 per share

- 2025-09: $146.77 per share

- 2025-10: $164.44 per share

- 2025-11: $164.61 per share

- 2025-12: $172.91 per share

- 2026-01: $169.00 per share

- 2026-02: $141.40 per share

- 2026-03: $127.49 per share

- 2026-04: $130.67 per share

- 2026-05: $107.39 per share

- 2026-06: $90.16 per share

- 2026-07: $151.77 per share

- 2026-08: $159.89 per share

- 2026-09: $156.83 per share

- 2026-10: $175.47 per share

## Annual estimated value (USD per share)

- FY2016: low $47.11 per share, central $53.59 per share, high $62.21 per share

- FY2017: low $47.47 per share, central $54.00 per share, high $62.69 per share

- FY2018: low $38.44 per share, central $43.63 per share, high $50.54 per share

- FY2019: low $25.54 per share, central $29.06 per share, high $33.75 per share

- FY2020: low $22.42 per share, central $25.20 per share, high $28.89 per share

- FY2021: low $21.79 per share, central $24.77 per share, high $28.75 per share

- FY2022: low $35.79 per share, central $40.73 per share, high $47.30 per share

- FY2023: low $46.34 per share, central $53.69 per share, high $62.41 per share

- FY2024: low $60.58 per share, central $68.93 per share, high $80.05 per share

- FY2025: low $88.54 per share, central $116.35 per share, high $136.14 per share

Historical values use today's bond yield for every fiscal year

Historical values use today's FX rate into trading currency for every fiscal year

Historical values use current restated fundamentals and current commodity classification; they are not point-in-time estimates

## Sources

[Original 10-K filing](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1289848/000162828026011093/hurn-20251231.htm); period 2025-12-31, filed 2026-02-24.

Estimates depend on assumptions and are not guarantees or investment advice. Underlying data remains subject to its source licenses; public reading does not grant bulk redistribution rights.