Argyle Capital Management Inc. Sells 5,350 Shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

Argyle Capital Management Inc. reduced its position in shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) by 19.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,950 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,350 shares during the period. Argyle Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in H&R Block were worth $1,395,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Eastern Bank bought a new stake in H&R Block during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Bogart Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of H&R Block by 606.1% in the third quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 466 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new position in shares of H&R Block in the third quarter valued at about $35,000. Quest Partners LLC lifted its position in H&R Block by 2,756.0% during the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 714 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 689 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in H&R Block by 4,152.9% during the 2nd 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. 90.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at H&R Block

In other H&R Block news, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 9,722 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.07, for a total value of $613,166.54. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 893,169 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,332,168.83. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 9,722 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.07, for a total transaction of $613,166.54. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 893,169 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,332,168.83. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Kellie J. Logerwell sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total value of $515,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 18,474 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,189,910.34. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 115,927 shares of company stock worth $7,517,056. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of H&R Block from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on 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, Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of H&R Block in a report on Monday.

H&R Block Trading Down 0.3 %

HRB stock traded down $0.16 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $59.64. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 160,584 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,155,005. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $62.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.17. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.46. H&R Block, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.20 and a 52 week high of $68.45. The stock has a market cap of $8.32 billion, a PE ratio of 13.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.66.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The company reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.15. H&R Block had a negative return on equity of 220.05% and a net margin of 16.49%. The business had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.05 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that H&R Block, Inc. will post 5.22 EPS for the current year.

H&R Block declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, August 15th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 16.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

H&R Block Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, September 5th were paid a dividend of $0.375 per share. This is a positive change from H&R Block’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 5th. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.52%. H&R Block’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.32%.

H&R Block 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.