Silver Coast Investments LLC Invests $291,000 in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

Silver Coast Investments LLC bought a new stake in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 4,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $291,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in H&R Block by 11.8% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 5,295,911 shares of the company’s stock valued at $260,081,000 after purchasing an additional 558,076 shares during the period. Boston Partners lifted 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 last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in H&R Block by 52.2% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,738,190 shares of the company’s stock valued at $148,492,000 after buying an additional 939,270 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of H&R Block by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,484,417 shares of the company’s stock valued at $134,726,000 after purchasing an additional 23,792 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of H&R Block by 39.7% during the second 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 own 90.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on HRB. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted 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. StockNews.com lowered shares of H&R Block from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of H&R Block in a report on Monday.

H&R Block Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:HRB traded up $0.45 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $60.18. 122,733 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,154,360. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $62.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $56.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.46. H&R Block, Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.20 and a 12 month high of $68.45.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The company reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. H&R Block had a net margin of 16.49% and a negative return on equity of 220.05%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.05 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that H&R Block, Inc. will post 5.22 earnings per share for the current year.

H&R Block Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 5th were paid a $0.375 dividend. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.49%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 5th. This is a boost from H&R Block’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. H&R Block’s payout ratio is currently 35.55%.

H&R Block announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, August 15th that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 16.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at H&R Block

In other H&R Block news, VP Kellie J. Logerwell sold 9,846 shares of H&R Block stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $639,990.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 25,028 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,626,820. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, VP Kellie J. Logerwell sold 9,846 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $639,990.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 25,028 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,626,820. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Kellie J. Logerwell sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total transaction of $515,280.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 18,474 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,189,910.34. This represents a 0.00 % 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 valued at $7,517,056 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

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.