H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Buy Rating

StockNews.com upgraded shares of H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning.

Separately, Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of H&R Block in a research note on Wednesday.

H&R Block Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of H&R Block stock opened at $54.35 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.46, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. H&R Block has a 1 year low of $42.28 and a 1 year high of $68.45. The company’s fifty day moving average is $54.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $58.74. The company has a market capitalization of $7.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.26, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.69.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported ($1.73) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.59) by ($0.14). H&R Block had a negative return on equity of 212.45% and a net margin of 16.19%. Analysts forecast that H&R Block will post 5.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On H&R Block

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its stake in shares of H&R Block by 1,630.9% in the third quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 777,264 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,395,000 after buying an additional 732,359 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp acquired a new stake in H&R Block in the fourth quarter valued at $25,552,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of H&R Block by 21.1% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,735,189 shares of the company’s stock worth $144,527,000 after purchasing an additional 476,892 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of H&R Block by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,936,829 shares of the company’s stock worth $313,735,000 after purchasing an additional 255,354 shares during the period. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its holdings in shares of H&R Block by 105.7% in the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 473,112 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,999,000 after purchasing an additional 243,100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.14% of the company’s stock.

About H&R Block

H&R Block, Inc engages in the provision of tax return preparation solutions, financial products and small business solutions. The company was founded by Henry W. Bloch and Richard A. Bloch on January 25, 1955, and is headquartered in Kansas City, MO.