Cannell & Spears LLC Reduces Holdings in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

Cannell & Spears LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) by 27.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,030 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,865 shares during the quarter. Cannell & Spears LLC’s holdings in H&R Block were worth $266,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its stake in shares of H&R Block by 11.0% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,646 shares of the company’s stock worth $144,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in H&R Block by 12.8% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,050,678 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,358,000 after purchasing an additional 232,095 shares during the period. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC increased its position in H&R Block by 29.0% in the fourth quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 7,222 shares of the company’s stock worth $382,000 after buying an additional 1,623 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its stake in shares of H&R Block by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 19,188 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,014,000 after buying an additional 999 shares during the period. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of H&R Block during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,644,000. 90.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on HRB shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of H&R Block from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. 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, February 5th.

H&R Block Stock Performance

NYSE:HRB opened at $56.34 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $53.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $56.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.52, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.65. H&R Block, Inc. has a 12-month low of $45.87 and a 12-month high of $68.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.46.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported ($1.73) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.59) by ($0.14). H&R Block had a net margin of 14.71% and a negative return on equity of 179.15%. Equities research analysts forecast that H&R Block, Inc. will post 5.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

H&R Block Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th will be paid a $0.375 dividend. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 4th. H&R Block’s payout ratio is currently 41.32%.

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.