H&R Block’s (HRB) “Outperform” Rating Reaffirmed at Barrington Research

Barrington Research reiterated their outperform rating on shares of H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. Barrington Research currently has a $70.00 price target on the stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on H&R Block from $39.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. StockNews.com cut H&R Block from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th.

H&R Block Trading Up 1.0 %

HRB opened at $60.70 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $8.47 billion, a PE ratio of 13.89, a PEG ratio of 0.95 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. The business has a 50 day moving average of $62.51 and a 200-day moving average of $56.30. H&R Block has a 52 week low of $39.20 and a 52 week high of $68.45.

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

H&R Block Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 5th were paid a dividend of $0.375 per share. This is a boost from H&R Block’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 5th. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.47%. H&R Block’s payout ratio is presently 34.32%.

H&R Block declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, August 15th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 16.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at H&R Block

In other news, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 9,722 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.07, for a total value of $613,166.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 893,169 shares in the company, valued at $56,332,168.83. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 9,722 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.07, for a total value of $613,166.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 893,169 shares in the company, valued at $56,332,168.83. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total value of $515,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 115,927 shares of company stock worth $7,517,056. 1.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Rockland Trust Co. raised its stake in shares of H&R Block by 1.2% in the third quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 16,866 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,072,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. TriaGen Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of H&R Block by 2.4% in the second quarter. TriaGen Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,642 shares of the company’s stock worth $469,000 after acquiring an additional 203 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in shares of H&R Block by 1.0% in the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 24,467 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,327,000 after acquiring an additional 251 shares during the period. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of H&R Block by 5.5% in the first quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 5,035 shares of the company’s stock worth $249,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares during the period. Finally, Axiom Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of H&R Block by 1.6% in the third quarter. Axiom Advisory LLC now owns 18,048 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,076,000 after acquiring an additional 282 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.14% of the company’s stock.

About H&R Block

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.