Centiva Capital LP Buys 19,839 Shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

Centiva Capital LP raised its stake in shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) by 147.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 33,299 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,839 shares during the period. Centiva Capital LP’s holdings in H&R Block were worth $2,116,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in H&R Block by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,936,829 shares of the company’s stock valued at $313,735,000 after acquiring an additional 255,354 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of H&R Block by 52.2% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,738,190 shares of the company’s stock valued at $148,492,000 after purchasing an additional 939,270 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of H&R Block by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,484,417 shares of the company’s stock valued at $134,726,000 after purchasing an additional 23,792 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of H&R Block by 39.7% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,131,451 shares of the company’s stock valued at $115,418,000 after purchasing an additional 606,250 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its position in shares of H&R Block by 1,630.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 777,264 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,395,000 after purchasing an additional 732,359 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.14% of the company’s stock.

H&R Block Trading Down 0.3 %

HRB stock opened at $59.11 on Tuesday. H&R Block, Inc. has a 1-year low of $42.28 and a 1-year high of $68.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.46, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The company has a market capitalization of $8.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.42, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.67. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.06.

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

H&R Block Dividend Announcement

The company 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.54%. H&R Block’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.59%.

H&R Block declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, August 15th that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 16.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of H&R Block in a research report on Friday, November 8th. StockNews.com lowered shares of H&R Block from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of H&R Block from $39.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Kellie J. Logerwell sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,474 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,189,910.34. This represents a 30.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

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.