H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) Price Target Raised to $40.00

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) had its target price raised by The Goldman Sachs Group from $36.00 to $40.00 in a research report released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a sell rating on the stock.

HRB has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Barrington Research increased their price target on H&R Block from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Weiss Ratings upgraded H&R Block from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 14th. Zacks Research cut H&R Block from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 3rd. Finally, Stephens began coverage on H&R Block in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $47.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.00.

H&R Block Stock Performance

NYSE HRB opened at $50.77 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.69. The company has a market capitalization of $6.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.32, a P/E/G ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 0.40. H&R Block has a 12-month low of $28.16 and a 12-month high of $58.67. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $46.75 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $39.76.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 9th. The company reported ($1.40) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.43) by $0.03. H&R Block had a net margin of 17.92% and a negative return on equity of 276.88%. The firm had revenue of $224.34 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $212.28 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($1.20) EPS. The business’s revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that H&R Block will post 6.11 earnings per share for the current year.

H&R Block Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 3rd will be given a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 3rd. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. H&R Block’s payout ratio is presently 33.76%.

Insider Activity at H&R Block

In other news, insider Mark J. Darling sold 2,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.69, for a total transaction of $109,863.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 21,588 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $878,415.72. This represents a 11.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.67% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Impax Asset Management Group plc bought a new position in H&R Block in the third quarter valued at about $1,863,000. Fulcrum Asset Management LLP raised its stake in H&R Block by 853.0% during the third quarter. Fulcrum Asset Management LLP now owns 4,784 shares of the company’s stock worth $194,000 after acquiring an additional 4,282 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of H&R Block by 51.3% in the third quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 5,053 shares of the company’s stock worth $206,000 after acquiring an additional 1,714 shares during the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of H&R Block by 861.4% in the third quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 673 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 603 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of H&R Block in the third quarter worth about $942,000. 90.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About H&R Block

H&R Block, Inc. provides tax preparation and related financial services to individuals and small businesses. Its offerings include in-person tax preparation, online do-it-yourself filing, virtual tax assistance, and tax software, along with bookkeeping and other small-business services through its Block Advisors and Wave brands. Founded in 1955 in Kansas City, Missouri, by brothers Henry and Richard Bloch, the company grew from a local tax preparation business into a provider of tax services through offices and digital channels.