American Century Companies Inc. Grows Position in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) by 116.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 276,358 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 148,790 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned 0.20% of H&R Block worth $14,987,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HRB. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of H&R Block during the 4th quarter valued at $82,605,000. Boston Partners boosted its stake in H&R Block by 30.2% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,270,919 shares of the company’s stock worth $160,614,000 after acquiring an additional 758,827 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in H&R Block by 11.8% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 5,295,911 shares of the company’s stock worth $260,081,000 after purchasing an additional 558,076 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in H&R Block by 576.5% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 580,227 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,496,000 after purchasing an additional 494,457 shares during the period. Finally, Prevatt Capital Ltd bought a new position in shares of H&R Block during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $17,413,000. 90.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

H&R Block Trading Up 1.2 %

NYSE:HRB opened at $64.44 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $8.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.75, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.46. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $59.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $53.41. H&R Block, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.20 and a 52 week high of $68.45.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The company reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. H&R Block had a negative return on equity of 220.05% and a net margin of 16.49%. The company’s revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.05 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that H&R Block, Inc. will post 5.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

H&R Block Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.375 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 5th. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend 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 is currently 34.32%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Dara S. Redler sold 9,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.10, for a total transaction of $583,310.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 22,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,414,430.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other H&R Block news, CFO Tony G. Bowen sold 79,259 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.17, for a total transaction of $5,165,309.03. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 90,095 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,871,491.15. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Dara S. Redler sold 9,100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.10, for a total transaction of $583,310.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 22,066 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,414,430.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 160,902 shares of company stock valued at $9,970,442 in the last 90 days. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on HRB. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of H&R Block in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. StockNews.com cut H&R Block from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on H&R Block from $39.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th.

About H&R Block

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.