Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Trims Stock Position in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund cut its holdings in shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,924 shares of the company’s stock after selling 500 shares during the quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in H&R Block were worth $1,476,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Boston Trust Walden Corp purchased a new position in shares of H&R Block in the 4th quarter worth about $25,552,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of H&R Block by 21.1% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,735,189 shares of the company’s stock worth $144,527,000 after purchasing an additional 476,892 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of H&R Block by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,936,829 shares of the company’s stock worth $313,735,000 after purchasing an additional 255,354 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its holdings in shares of H&R Block by 105.7% in the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 473,112 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,999,000 after purchasing an additional 243,100 shares during the period. Finally, Ibex Wealth Advisors purchased a new position in shares of H&R Block in the 4th quarter worth about $10,230,000. 90.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on HRB shares. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of H&R Block in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com downgraded H&R Block from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th.

H&R Block Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:HRB opened at $54.46 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $7.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.00, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.46, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.73. H&R Block, Inc. has a one year low of $45.87 and a one year high of $68.45. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $53.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $58.31.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported ($1.73) 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that H&R Block, Inc. will post 5.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

H&R Block Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.75%. H&R Block’s payout ratio is currently 41.32%.

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.