H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.32

H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, May 7th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 5th will be paid a dividend of 0.32 per share on Wednesday, July 3rd. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.62%.

H&R Block has raised its dividend by an average of 5.5% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 3 consecutive years. H&R Block has a dividend payout ratio of 27.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect H&R Block to earn $4.69 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.28 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 27.3%.

H&R Block Stock Down 0.8 %

HRB traded down $0.37 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $48.94. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 122,020 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,049,430. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.58, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.69. H&R Block has a twelve month low of $28.83 and a twelve month high of $52.90. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $47.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.66.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported ($1.27) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.58) by $0.31. H&R Block had a net margin of 16.98% and a negative return on equity of 227.22%. The company had revenue of $179.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $169.45 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($1.37) EPS. H&R Block’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that H&R Block will post 4.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at H&R Block

In related news, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 85,921 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.21, for a total transaction of $4,228,172.41. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 755,359 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,171,216.39. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on HRB. StockNews.com upgraded H&R Block from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on H&R Block from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of H&R Block in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st.

About H&R Block

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.