Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Grows Stock Position in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its stake in shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) by 28.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 41,801 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,373 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in H&R Block were worth $2,209,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of H&R Block by 5.5% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,936,829 shares of the company’s stock worth $313,735,000 after buying an additional 255,354 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of H&R Block by 21.1% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,735,189 shares of the company’s stock valued at $144,527,000 after purchasing an additional 476,892 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of H&R Block by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,684,738 shares of the company’s stock worth $89,022,000 after purchasing an additional 47,920 shares during the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its stake in shares of H&R Block by 13.8% during the fourth quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 884,714 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,748,000 after purchasing an additional 107,450 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of H&R Block by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 754,287 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,935,000 after acquiring an additional 25,234 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on HRB shares. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of H&R Block in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of H&R Block from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th.

H&R Block Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE HRB opened at $53.33 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $53.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $58.32. The stock has a market cap of $7.14 billion, a PE ratio of 14.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.46. H&R Block, Inc. has a 52-week low of $45.87 and a 52-week high of $68.45.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported ($1.73) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.59) by ($0.14). H&R Block had a negative return on equity of 179.15% and a net margin of 14.71%. Equities research analysts forecast that H&R Block, Inc. will post 5.25 earnings per share for the current year.

H&R Block Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th will be paid a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.81%. H&R Block’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.32%.

H&R Block Profile

H&R Block, Inc engages in the provision of tax return preparation solutions, financial products and small business solutions. The company was founded by Henry W. Bloch and Richard A. Bloch on January 25, 1955, and is headquartered in Kansas City, MO.