StockNews.com Downgrades H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) to Hold

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) was downgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday.

Separately, Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of H&R Block in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th.

H&R Block Trading Down 1.9 %

NYSE HRB opened at $51.41 on Thursday. H&R Block has a 1-year low of $45.64 and a 1-year high of $68.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.46. The company has a market capitalization of $7.05 billion, a PE ratio of 14.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.69. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $54.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $58.61.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported ($1.73) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.59) by ($0.14). H&R Block had a negative return on equity of 179.15% and a net margin of 14.71%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that H&R Block will post 5.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On H&R Block

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of H&R Block by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,253,276 shares of the company’s stock valued at $753,143,000 after purchasing an additional 35,945 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of H&R Block by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,219,462 shares of the company’s stock valued at $275,796,000 after buying an additional 282,633 shares during the period. Boston Partners lifted its stake in shares of H&R Block by 58.5% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,500,552 shares of the company’s stock valued at $237,814,000 after buying an additional 1,660,319 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of H&R Block by 21.1% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,735,189 shares of the company’s stock valued at $144,527,000 after buying an additional 476,892 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in shares of H&R Block by 12.8% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,050,678 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,358,000 after buying an additional 232,095 shares during the period. 90.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.