Royce & Associates LP Reduces Holdings in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

Royce & Associates LP lowered its stake in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) by 5.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 164,556 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,000 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP owned approximately 0.12% of H&R Block worth $10,458,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of HRB. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of H&R Block by 11.8% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 5,295,911 shares of the company’s stock valued at $260,081,000 after acquiring an additional 558,076 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its stake in H&R Block by 30.2% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,270,919 shares of the company’s stock worth $160,614,000 after purchasing an additional 758,827 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of H&R Block by 52.2% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,738,190 shares of the company’s stock valued at $148,492,000 after purchasing an additional 939,270 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew 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 valued at $134,726,000 after buying an additional 23,792 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.14% of the company’s stock.

H&R Block Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of HRB opened at $60.08 on Friday. H&R Block, Inc. has a 12 month low of $42.28 and a 12 month high of $68.45. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $61.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $57.43. 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 stock has a market cap of $8.23 billion, a PE ratio of 14.65, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.67.

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

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

H&R Block Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.375 per share. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. H&R Block’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.59%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Tony G. Bowen sold 79,259 shares of H&R Block stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.17, for a total value of $5,165,309.03. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 90,095 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,871,491.15. The trade was a 46.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 9,722 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.07, for a total transaction of $613,166.54. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 893,169 shares in the company, valued at $56,332,168.83. This represents a 1.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 115,927 shares of company stock worth $7,517,056 in the last quarter. 1.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HRB has been the subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com downgraded H&R Block from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of H&R Block from $39.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of H&R Block in a research report on Friday, November 8th.

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.