Huron Consulting Group Inc. (NASDAQ:HURN) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

Mark Hussey: Yeah. And Tobey, the thing I would add to that that’s helping. I mean certainly, the new operating model has really brought our go-to-market together to be more effective in driving solutions to clients that really are reflecting the full range of what we do that’s certainly a positive. I think from a margin point of view again, the incentive plan and the model that we have now that is focused on a much more integrated global enterprise gives us a lot of opportunities for driving increased efficiency. And then the last comment I’d make about our portfolio. When you look across everything we do today, there really is no one single thread that’s accounting for everything. We’ve got a very broad base of demand across a lot of different things that we do and that just gives a lot more ways to win and have stability across the business. So we have a great degree of confidence in our ability to achieve the objectives we set for us.

Tobey Sommer: And last one for me. With the rapid growth the generation of cash and sort of modest debt, since it feels like the company is just sort of on its toes right now front foot so to speak, do you see a need to or an opportunity to add something via acquisition maybe in the digital realm to keep the momentum going?

John Kelly: We’re always looking at the market. And I think we talked about again going back to our Investor Day from last March that accretive M&A is part of our longer-term growth strategy. And to your point, I think the financial results and cash flow and strong balance sheet are all factors that enable us to have the capacity to do that. Our focus remains on our organic growth. And so when we do scan the market from an M&A perspective, we’re really looking at things that we feel like when we add them to the portfolio will further fuel that organic growth in the out years after the acquisition. And so that’s the primary filter from a financial perspective we look at from an M&A perspective.

Mark Hussey: And maybe the comment I’ll add is that, while we didn’t do that much in a later part of 2022, it was not because we weren’t looking. We’re continually in the market and especially the track record that we have in working with various partners that end up joining us has been a great methodology of increasing organic growth in a very low cost way. So if there’s something a little bit more transformative obviously I think we’re very — you can see from our investor objectives, we’re very careful about focusing on returns for shareholders. Not to say that we won’t do it, but I think we have a great discipline on what we think will create value.

Tobey Sommer: Thank you.

Operator: Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Andrew Nicholas of William Blair & Company. Your question please, Andrew.

Andrew Nicholas: Hi. Good afternoon. Thanks for taking my questions. I wanted to touch on headcount first and foremost, it looks like Healthcare head count was up pretty significantly quarter-over-quarter if my numbers are correct there. Just curious, if you could spend some time on where that hiring is concentrated, it is more kind of some catch-up hiring to capture some of this performance improvement demand acceleration? And then maybe, if you could speak to headcount growth expectations for 2023 and your ability to service the current pipeline?