Barrington Research Reiterates Outperform Rating for H&R Block (NYSE:HRB)

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating restated by investment analysts at Barrington Research in a report issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $70.00 price objective on the stock. Barrington Research’s price target indicates a potential upside of 16.47% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on HRB. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted 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. StockNews.com cut H&R Block from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th.

H&R Block Stock Performance

H&R Block stock opened at $60.10 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $62.58 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $56.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.46, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.27. The stock has a market cap of $8.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.75, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.66. H&R Block has a fifty-two week low of $39.20 and a fifty-two week high of $68.45.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The company reported $1.89 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.03 billion. H&R Block had a negative return on equity of 220.05% and a net margin of 16.49%. The business’s revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.05 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that H&R Block will post 5.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

H&R Block declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, August 15th that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 16.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 9,722 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.07, for a total value of $613,166.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 893,169 shares in the company, valued at $56,332,168.83. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 9,722 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.07, for a total value of $613,166.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 893,169 shares in the company, valued at $56,332,168.83. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Kellie J. Logerwell sold 9,846 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $639,990.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 25,028 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,626,820. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 115,927 shares of company stock worth $7,517,056 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On H&R Block

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Rockland Trust Co. raised its stake in H&R Block by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 16,866 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,072,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. TriaGen Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in H&R Block by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. TriaGen Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,642 shares of the company’s stock valued at $469,000 after buying an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in H&R Block by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 24,467 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,327,000 after buying an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC raised its stake in H&R Block by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 5,035 shares of the company’s stock valued at $249,000 after buying an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Axiom Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of H&R Block by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Axiom Advisory LLC now owns 18,048 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,076,000 after acquiring an additional 282 shares during the period. 90.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.