Cerity Partners LLC Grows Holdings in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) by 47.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 132,663 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 42,934 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in H&R Block were worth $8,431,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in H&R Block during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Bogart Wealth LLC lifted 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 purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in H&R Block in the third quarter worth about $34,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new stake in H&R Block in the third quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on HRB shares. StockNews.com lowered H&R Block from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of H&R Block in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of H&R Block from $39.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Kellie J. Logerwell sold 8,000 shares of the 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 approximately $1,189,910.34. This represents a 30.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 9,722 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.07, for a total value of $613,166.54. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

H&R Block Stock Performance

Shares of HRB stock opened at $59.62 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $8.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.57, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.67. The business has a 50 day moving average of $61.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $57.89. H&R Block, Inc. has a 52 week low of $42.28 and a 52 week high of $68.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.46.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported ($1.17) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.13) by ($0.04). H&R Block had a net margin of 16.19% and a negative return on equity of 212.45%. The company had revenue of $193.81 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $188.78 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($1.05) EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that H&R Block, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

H&R Block Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th will be issued a $0.375 dividend. 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 2.52%. H&R Block’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.59%.

H&R Block announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program 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 programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

H&R Block 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.