New Vernon Capital Holdings II LLC Increases Holdings in H&R Block, Inc. $HRB

New Vernon Capital Holdings II LLC boosted its position in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) by 5,391.0% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 621,252 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 609,938 shares during the period. H&R Block accounts for approximately 0.2% of New Vernon Capital Holdings II LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. New Vernon Capital Holdings II LLC’s holdings in H&R Block were worth $34,113,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in H&R Block by 98.1% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 100,601 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,667,000 after buying an additional 49,827 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of H&R Block by 13.5% in the 1st quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 767,369 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,136,000 after acquiring an additional 91,075 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of H&R Block by 17.7% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 703,672 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,639,000 after acquiring an additional 105,973 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of H&R Block during the first quarter worth $1,317,000. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its position in H&R Block by 1.6% during the first quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 11,942 shares of the company’s stock valued at $656,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.14% of the company’s stock.

H&R Block Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of H&R Block stock opened at $51.36 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $53.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $55.42. The company has a market cap of $6.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.26. H&R Block, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $47.00 and a fifty-two week high of $64.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.86, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 12th. The company reported $2.27 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by ($0.54). H&R Block had a net margin of 16.11% and a negative return on equity of 191.38%. The business had revenue of $1.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.07 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.89 earnings per share. H&R Block’s revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. H&R Block has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.850-5.000 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that H&R Block, Inc. will post 5.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

H&R Block Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 4th will be issued a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 4th. This is an increase from H&R Block’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. H&R Block’s dividend payout ratio is 33.56%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on HRB. Zacks Research lowered shares of H&R Block from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Barrington Research decreased their price objective on H&R Block from $70.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Wall Street Zen upgraded H&R Block from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on H&R Block from $54.00 to $48.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.00.

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.