Colonial River Investments LLC Takes $228,000 Position in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

Colonial River Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 3,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $228,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of H&R Block by 11.8% in 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 grew its holdings in H&R Block by 30.2% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,270,919 shares of the company’s stock valued at $160,614,000 after purchasing an additional 758,827 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of H&R Block by 52.2% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,738,190 shares of the company’s stock valued at $148,492,000 after buying an additional 939,270 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 23,792 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 606,250 shares during the last quarter. 90.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on HRB shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of H&R Block from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report 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 report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of H&R Block in a report on Friday.

H&R Block Stock Down 6.6 %

Shares of NYSE HRB opened at $59.18 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $62.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $57.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.46. H&R Block, Inc. has a 12-month low of $41.98 and a 12-month high of $68.45. The company has a market cap of $8.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.02, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. H&R Block had a negative return on equity of 220.05% and a net margin of 16.49%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.05 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that H&R Block, Inc. will post 5.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

H&R Block Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be issued a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.53%. H&R Block’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.55%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at H&R Block

In related news, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 9,722 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.07, for a total transaction of $613,166.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 893,169 shares in the company, valued at $56,332,168.83. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Tony G. Bowen sold 79,259 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.17, for a total value of $5,165,309.03. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 90,095 shares in the company, valued at $5,871,491.15. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 9,722 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.07, for a total value of $613,166.54. Following the transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 115,927 shares of company stock worth $7,517,056 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

H&R Block Company 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.