Financial Counselors Inc. Lowers Position in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

Financial Counselors Inc. lowered its stake in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) by 1.6% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 188,741 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,986 shares during the quarter. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in H&R Block were worth $11,994,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of H&R Block by 270.7% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 16,319 shares of the company’s stock worth $885,000 after acquiring an additional 11,917 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in H&R Block by 576.5% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 580,227 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,496,000 after purchasing an additional 494,457 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in shares of H&R Block by 24.5% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 94,270 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,629,000 after buying an additional 18,556 shares during the period. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of H&R Block in the first quarter valued at $10,581,000. Finally, Algert Global LLC raised its holdings in shares of H&R Block by 413.1% in the 3rd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 72,110 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,583,000 after buying an additional 58,057 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.14% of the company’s stock.

H&R Block Price Performance

HRB stock opened at $59.33 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $60.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $57.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.46, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.47, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.67. H&R Block, Inc. has a 1 year low of $42.28 and a 1 year high of $68.45.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported ($1.17) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.13) by ($0.04). H&R Block had a net margin of 16.19% and a negative return on equity of 212.45%. The firm had revenue of $193.81 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $188.78 million. During the same period last year, the business earned ($1.05) EPS. Analysts anticipate that H&R Block, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

H&R Block Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be given a dividend of $0.375 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.53%. H&R Block’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.59%.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on HRB shares. StockNews.com downgraded H&R Block from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of H&R Block in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of H&R Block from $39.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Kellie J. Logerwell sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $1,189,910.34. The trade was a 30.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 9,722 shares of the company’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 893,169 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,332,168.83. This trade represents a 1.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

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.