Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Acquires 9,773 Shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) by 61.6% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 25,641 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,773 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in H&R Block were worth $1,629,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Eastern Bank purchased a new position in H&R Block in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Bogart Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of H&R Block by 606.1% during the third quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 466 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. 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. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of H&R Block by 4,152.9% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 723 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 706 shares during the period. Finally, Quest Partners LLC grew its stake in H&R Block by 2,756.0% in the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 714 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 689 shares in the last quarter. 90.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on HRB shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on H&R Block from $39.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. StockNews.com lowered shares of H&R Block from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of H&R Block in a research note on Monday, October 28th.

H&R Block Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HRB opened at $59.57 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $62.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.12, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.67. H&R Block, Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.20 and a 12 month high of $68.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.46, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.27.

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

H&R Block Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 5th were paid a $0.375 dividend. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 5th. This is a positive change from H&R Block’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. H&R Block’s dividend payout ratio is 35.55%.

H&R Block announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, August 15th that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 16.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at H&R Block

In other H&R Block news, CFO Tony G. Bowen sold 79,259 shares of H&R Block stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.17, for a total value of $5,165,309.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 90,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,871,491.15. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, CFO Tony G. Bowen sold 79,259 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.17, for a total transaction of $5,165,309.03. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 90,095 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,871,491.15. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Kellie J. Logerwell sold 9,846 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total value of $639,990.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 25,028 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,626,820. 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 over the last 90 days. 1.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.