H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) Given “Outperform” Rating at Barrington Research

Barrington Research reaffirmed their outperform rating on shares of H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) in a report published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $70.00 target price on the stock.

H&R Block Trading Up 2.8 %

Shares of H&R Block stock opened at $54.38 on Monday. H&R Block has a 12-month low of $42.28 and a 12-month high of $68.45. The company has a market cap of $7.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.26, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.46. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $55.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $58.78.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported ($1.17) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.13) by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $193.81 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $188.78 million. H&R Block had a net margin of 16.19% and a negative return on equity of 212.45%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($1.05) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that H&R Block will post 5.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

H&R Block Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th were paid a $0.375 dividend. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.76%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 5th. H&R Block’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.59%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On H&R Block

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in H&R Block during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,821,000. Algert Global LLC grew its position in H&R Block by 413.1% during the third quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 72,110 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,583,000 after acquiring an additional 58,057 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in H&R Block by 5.5% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,936,829 shares of the company’s stock valued at $313,735,000 after acquiring an additional 255,354 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in H&R Block by 3.5% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 754,287 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,935,000 after acquiring an additional 25,234 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC bought a new position in H&R Block during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,613,000. 90.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.