H&R Block, Inc. Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.38 (NYSE:HRB)

H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, November 6th,NASDAQ Dividends reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a dividend of 0.375 per share on Monday, January 6th. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th.

H&R Block has raised its dividend payment by an average of 5.5% per year over the last three years. H&R Block has a payout ratio of 28.5% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect H&R Block to earn $5.07 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.50 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 29.6%.

H&R Block Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of HRB stock opened at $63.39 on Friday. H&R Block has a one year low of $39.20 and a one year high of $68.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.46, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $62.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $56.83. The stock has a market cap of $8.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.67.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The company reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.03 billion. H&R Block had a net margin of 16.49% and a negative return on equity of 220.05%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.05 earnings per share. Analysts predict that H&R Block will post 5.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 9,722 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CFO Tony G. Bowen sold 79,259 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.17, for a total value of $5,165,309.03. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 90,095 shares in the company, valued at $5,871,491.15. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 9,722 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were 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. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 115,927 shares of company stock valued at $7,517,056. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HRB has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of H&R Block in a report on Monday, October 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective 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. Finally, StockNews.com cut H&R Block from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th.

H&R Block announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, August 15th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 16.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.