Burney Co. Raises Stake in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

Burney Co. raised its stake in shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) by 0.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 57,327 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 349 shares during the quarter. Burney Co.’s holdings in H&R Block were worth $3,109,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of HRB. TriaGen Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of H&R Block by 2.4% in the second quarter. TriaGen Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,642 shares of the company’s stock worth $469,000 after buying an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of H&R Block by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 5,035 shares of the company’s stock valued at $249,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of H&R Block by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 7,617 shares of the company’s stock worth $368,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares in the last quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of H&R Block by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 16,556 shares of the company’s stock worth $801,000 after purchasing an additional 411 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ascent Group LLC raised its stake in H&R Block by 2.8% in the first quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 18,451 shares of the company’s stock valued at $906,000 after purchasing an additional 498 shares in the last quarter. 90.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 44,975 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.55, for a total transaction of $2,453,386.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 712,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,860,656.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Tony G. Bowen sold 79,259 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.17, for a total transaction of $5,165,309.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 90,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,871,491.15. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 44,975 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.55, for a total transaction of $2,453,386.25. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 712,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,860,656.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 143,180 shares of company stock valued at $8,841,995 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on HRB. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of H&R Block from $39.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of H&R Block in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded H&R Block from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th.

H&R Block Price Performance

NYSE HRB traded down $0.48 on Thursday, reaching $63.56. 535,970 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,140,320. The stock has a market cap of $8.87 billion, a PE ratio of 14.69, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.68. H&R Block, Inc. has a 12 month low of $38.70 and a 12 month high of $68.45. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $56.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $51.72.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The company reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. H&R Block had a net margin of 17.87% and a negative return on equity of 224.81%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.05 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that H&R Block, Inc. will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

H&R Block declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, August 15th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 16.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

H&R Block Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, September 5th will be given a dividend of $0.375 per share. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.36%. This is a positive change from H&R Block’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 5th. H&R Block’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.32%.

H&R Block Company Profile

H&R Block, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides assisted income tax return preparation and do-it-yourself (DIY) tax return preparation services and products to the general public primarily in the United States, Canada, and Australia. It offers assisted income tax return preparation and related services through a system of retail offices operated directly by the company or its franchisees.