H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) Downgraded to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Wednesday.

Separately, Barrington Research increased their target price on shares of H&R Block from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Tuesday, May 28th.

H&R Block Stock Up 0.5 %

NYSE HRB opened at $53.47 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.24, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.68. H&R Block has a 52-week low of $31.91 and a 52-week high of $56.63. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $52.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.07.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The company reported $4.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.66 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $2.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.14 billion. H&R Block had a net margin of 17.87% and a negative return on equity of 224.81%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.20 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that H&R Block will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

H&R Block Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 5th were given a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 5th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.39%. H&R Block’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.29%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 44,975 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.55, for a total value of $2,453,386.25. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 712,386 shares in the company, valued at $38,860,656.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of H&R Block

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its position in H&R Block by 91.9% during the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 518 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new stake in H&R Block during the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in H&R Block during the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in H&R Block by 4,152.9% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 723 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 706 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. acquired a new stake in H&R Block during the fourth quarter worth approximately $43,000. 90.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.