Friedenthal Financial Purchases New Position in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

Friedenthal Financial purchased a new stake in shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 773 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in H&R Block by 11.8% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 5,295,911 shares of the company’s stock worth $260,081,000 after acquiring an additional 558,076 shares during the period. Boston Partners increased its holdings in H&R Block by 30.2% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,270,919 shares of the company’s stock worth $160,614,000 after acquiring an additional 758,827 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in H&R Block by 52.2% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,738,190 shares of the company’s stock worth $148,492,000 after acquiring an additional 939,270 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in 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 worth $134,726,000 after acquiring an additional 23,792 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in 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 worth $115,418,000 after acquiring an additional 606,250 shares during the period. 90.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on HRB. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of H&R Block in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target 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 lowered shares of H&R Block from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th.

H&R Block Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HRB opened at $61.49 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $62.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $55.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.07, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.66. H&R Block, Inc. 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.

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

H&R Block Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 5th were paid a $0.375 dividend. This is a boost 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.44%. H&R Block’s dividend payout ratio is 34.32%.

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

Insider Activity

In other H&R Block news, VP Kellie J. Logerwell sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total transaction of $515,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other H&R Block news, VP Kellie J. Logerwell sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total transaction of $515,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Tony G. Bowen sold 79,259 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.17, for a total transaction of $5,165,309.03. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 90,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,871,491.15. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 115,927 shares of company stock valued at $7,517,056. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

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.