DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale Has $7.91 Million Holdings in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lessened its position in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) by 3.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 148,743 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,052 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale’s holdings in H&R Block were worth $7,907,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new stake in H&R Block in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Quest Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of H&R Block by 2,756.0% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 714 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 689 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in shares of H&R Block by 4,152.9% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 723 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 706 shares during the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of H&R Block during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. purchased a new position in shares of H&R Block during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.14% of the company’s stock.

H&R Block Stock Performance

Shares of H&R Block stock opened at $64.43 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $59.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $53.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.66. H&R Block, Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.20 and a 12 month high of $68.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.46.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The company reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. H&R Block had a negative return on equity of 220.05% and a net margin of 16.49%. The business’s revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.05 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that H&R Block, Inc. will post 5.22 EPS for the current year.

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

H&R Block Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 5th will be paid a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 5th. This is a positive change from H&R Block’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.33%. H&R Block’s payout ratio is presently 34.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at H&R Block

In other H&R Block news, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 44,975 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.55, for a total value of $2,453,386.25. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 712,386 shares in the company, valued at $38,860,656.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 44,975 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.55, for a total transaction of $2,453,386.25. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 712,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,860,656.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Dara S. Redler sold 9,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.10, for a total value of $583,310.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 22,066 shares in the company, valued at $1,414,430.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 152,902 shares of company stock worth $9,455,162 over the last ninety days. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HRB has been the topic of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on H&R Block from $39.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. StockNews.com lowered H&R Block from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of H&R Block in a report on Wednesday, August 14th.

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.