Silver Coast Investments LLC Takes $291,000 Position in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

Silver Coast Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 4,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $291,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Rockland Trust Co. lifted its holdings in H&R Block by 1.2% during the third quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 16,866 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,072,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. TriaGen Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in H&R Block by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. TriaGen Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,642 shares of the company’s stock worth $469,000 after buying an additional 203 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in H&R Block by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 24,467 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,327,000 after buying an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC raised its holdings in H&R Block by 5.5% during the first 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 period. Finally, Axiom Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of H&R Block by 1.6% in the third quarter. Axiom Advisory LLC now owns 18,048 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,076,000 after acquiring an additional 282 shares during the period. 90.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at H&R Block

In other news, VP Kellie J. Logerwell sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total transaction of $515,280.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,474 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,189,910.34. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other H&R Block news, insider Dara S. Redler sold 9,100 shares of H&R Block stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.10, for a total transaction of $583,310.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 22,066 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,414,430.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Kellie J. Logerwell sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total value of $515,280.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,474 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,189,910.34. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 115,927 shares of company stock valued at $7,517,056. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HRB has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com cut H&R Block from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of H&R Block from $39.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of H&R Block in a report on Monday.

H&R Block Price Performance

NYSE:HRB traded up $0.45 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $60.18. The stock had a trading volume of 122,733 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,154,360. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.46, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.33 billion, a PE ratio of 14.15, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.66. H&R Block, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.20 and a 52 week high of $68.45. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $62.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $56.30.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The company reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.15. H&R Block had a negative return on equity of 220.05% and a net margin of 16.49%. The business had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.05 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that H&R Block, Inc. will post 5.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

H&R Block declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, August 15th that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 16.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

H&R Block Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 5th were issued a dividend of $0.375 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 5th. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.49%. This is a positive change from H&R Block’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. H&R Block’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.55%.

H&R Block 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.