Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC Buys New Position in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 4,744 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $257,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new position in shares of H&R Block in the first quarter worth $28,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 706 shares during the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in H&R Block during the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Assetmark Inc. bought a new position in H&R Block during the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. bought a new position in H&R Block during the fourth quarter valued at $48,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at H&R Block

In other H&R Block news, CFO Tony G. Bowen sold 79,259 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.17, for a total value of $5,165,309.03. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 90,095 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,871,491.15. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Dara S. Redler sold 9,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.10, for a total value of $583,310.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 22,066 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,414,430.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Tony G. Bowen sold 79,259 shares of H&R Block stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.17, for a total value of $5,165,309.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 90,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,871,491.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 143,180 shares of company stock valued at $8,841,995. 1.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on HRB. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of H&R Block in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. StockNews.com lowered shares of H&R Block from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of H&R Block from $39.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th.

H&R Block Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of H&R Block stock traded down $0.24 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $64.31. The company had a trading volume of 161,732 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,142,385. The stock has a market cap of $8.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.77, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $55.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $51.03. H&R Block, Inc. has a 12-month low of $38.70 and a 12-month high of $68.45.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The company reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.15. H&R Block had a net margin of 17.87% and a negative return on equity of 224.81%. The company had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.05 EPS. H&R Block’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that H&R Block, Inc. will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

H&R Block declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, August 15th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 16.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

H&R Block Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, September 5th will be paid a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 5th. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.33%. This is a boost from H&R Block’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. H&R Block’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.32%.

H&R Block Company 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.