H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) Shares Down 5.8% – What’s Next?

H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)’s stock price fell 5.8% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $50.62 and last traded at $50.28. 1,344,803 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 7% from the average session volume of 1,258,181 shares. The stock had previously closed at $53.35.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HRB has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of H&R Block in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com lowered H&R Block from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th.

H&R Block Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.65. The company’s 50 day moving average is $53.75 and its 200-day moving average is $57.84.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported ($1.73) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.59) by ($0.14). H&R Block had a net margin of 14.71% and a negative return on equity of 179.15%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that H&R Block, Inc. will post 5.25 EPS for the current year.

H&R Block Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.375 per share. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 4th. H&R Block’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.32%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On H&R Block

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in shares of H&R Block in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Spire Wealth Management purchased a new position in H&R Block in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of H&R Block during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of H&R Block during the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of H&R Block by 64.5% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 658 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 258 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.14% of the company’s stock.

About H&R Block

H&R Block, Inc engages in the provision of tax return preparation solutions, financial products and small business solutions. The company was founded by Henry W. Bloch and Richard A. Bloch on January 25, 1955, and is headquartered in Kansas City, MO.