H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) Holdings Decreased by Royce & Associates LP

Royce & Associates LP cut its position in shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 164,556 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,000 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP’s holdings in H&R Block were worth $10,458,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of H&R Block by 11.8% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 5,295,911 shares of the company’s stock worth $260,081,000 after purchasing an additional 558,076 shares during the period. Boston Partners grew its position in shares of H&R Block by 30.2% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,270,919 shares of the company’s stock valued at $160,614,000 after buying an additional 758,827 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in H&R Block by 52.2% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,738,190 shares of the company’s stock worth $148,492,000 after acquiring an additional 939,270 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in H&R Block by 1.0% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,484,417 shares of the company’s stock worth $134,726,000 after acquiring an additional 23,792 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in H&R Block by 39.7% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,131,451 shares of the company’s stock valued at $115,418,000 after acquiring an additional 606,250 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other H&R Block news, VP Kellie J. Logerwell sold 9,846 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $639,990.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 25,028 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,626,820. The trade was a 28.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Dara S. Redler sold 9,100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.10, for a total value of $583,310.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 22,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,414,430.60. The trade was a 29.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 115,927 shares of company stock valued at $7,517,056 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of H&R Block in a report on Friday, November 8th. 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, StockNews.com cut H&R Block from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th.

H&R Block Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HRB opened at $60.08 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $61.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $57.43. The company has a market capitalization of $8.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.65, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.46. H&R Block, Inc. has a twelve month low of $42.28 and a twelve month high of $68.45.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported ($1.17) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.13) by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $193.81 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $188.78 million. H&R Block had a negative return on equity of 212.45% and a net margin of 16.19%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($1.05) earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that H&R Block, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

H&R Block announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, August 15th that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 16.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

H&R Block Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be given a dividend of $0.375 per share. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.50%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. H&R Block’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.59%.

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.