H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) Short Interest Update

H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) saw a significant decline in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 10,190,000 shares, a decline of 7.4% from the October 15th total of 11,000,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,410,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 7.2 days. Currently, 7.5% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Insider Buying and Selling at H&R Block

In other news, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 9,722 shares of H&R Block stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.07, for a total value of $613,166.54. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 893,169 shares in the company, valued at $56,332,168.83. This trade represents a 1.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Kellie J. Logerwell sold 8,000 shares of H&R Block stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were 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 approximately $1,189,910.34. This trade represents a 30.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On H&R Block

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of H&R Block by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,878 shares of the company’s stock valued at $309,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares during the period. Rockland Trust Co. raised its stake in shares of H&R Block by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 16,866 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,072,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. TriaGen Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of H&R Block by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. TriaGen Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,642 shares of the company’s stock valued at $469,000 after acquiring an additional 203 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of H&R Block by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,245 shares of the company’s stock valued at $270,000 after acquiring an additional 221 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in shares of H&R Block by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 24,467 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,327,000 after acquiring an additional 251 shares during the period. 90.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of H&R Block from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target 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 restated 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 Stock Performance

HRB opened at $60.39 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.28 billion, a PE ratio of 14.73, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.67. H&R Block has a twelve month low of $42.28 and a twelve month high of $68.45. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $61.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $57.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.46.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last posted 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). The firm had revenue of $193.81 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $188.78 million. H&R Block had a net margin of 16.19% and a negative return on equity of 212.45%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($1.05) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that H&R Block will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

H&R Block Dividend Announcement

The company 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 is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.48%. H&R Block’s payout ratio is 36.59%.

H&R Block declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, August 15th that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 16.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.