H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on HRB. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target 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 cut H&R Block from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of H&R Block in a research report on Friday, November 8th.

H&R Block Stock Performance

Shares of H&R Block stock opened at $55.39 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $61.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $57.64. H&R Block has a 1-year low of $42.28 and a 1-year high of $68.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.46. The company has a market cap of $7.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.51, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.67.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last released its 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 business had revenue of $193.81 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $188.78 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($1.05) EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that H&R Block will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

H&R Block Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th will be given a dividend of $0.375 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.71%. H&R Block’s payout ratio is presently 36.59%.

H&R Block declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, August 15th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 16.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at H&R Block

In related news, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 9,722 shares of H&R Block stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 893,169 shares in the company, valued at $56,332,168.83. This trade represents a 1.08 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Kellie J. Logerwell sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 18,474 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,189,910.34. This trade represents a 30.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On H&R Block

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of HRB. Eastern Bank acquired a new stake in shares of H&R Block in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Bogart Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in H&R Block by 606.1% in the third quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 466 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in H&R Block in the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new stake in shares of H&R Block during the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of H&R Block during the third quarter worth approximately $40,000. 90.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.