MetLife Investment Management LLC Lowers Stake in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

MetLife Investment Management LLC cut its stake in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) by 1.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 73,365 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,350 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC owned about 0.05% of H&R Block worth $4,662,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in HRB. Bridgewater Associates LP raised its holdings in H&R Block by 96.4% in the third quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 309,664 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,679,000 after purchasing an additional 151,978 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of H&R Block by 15.0% during the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 10,855 shares of the company’s stock worth $690,000 after acquiring an additional 1,418 shares in the last quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in H&R Block during the third quarter valued at approximately $590,000. Hancock Whitney Corp acquired a new stake in H&R Block in the third quarter valued at approximately $995,000. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd grew its holdings in H&R Block by 113.1% in the third quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 8,614 shares of the company’s stock worth $547,000 after purchasing an additional 4,571 shares during the last quarter. 90.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

H&R Block Stock Performance

Shares of HRB stock opened at $59.28 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $60.76 and a 200 day moving average of $58.03. H&R Block, Inc. has a 1 year low of $42.28 and a 1 year high of $68.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.46, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.67.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported ($1.17) earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $193.81 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $188.78 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($1.05) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that H&R Block, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

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

H&R Block Announces Dividend

The firm 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 yield of 2.53%. H&R Block’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling at H&R Block

In related news, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 9,722 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,332,168.83. This represents a 1.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Kellie J. Logerwell sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HRB has been the topic of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded H&R Block from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of H&R Block from $39.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of H&R Block in a research note on Friday, November 8th.

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.