H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) saw a large drop in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 10,190,000 shares, a drop of 7.4% from the October 15th total of 11,000,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,410,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 7.2 days. Approximately 7.5% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of H&R Block in a report on Friday, November 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of H&R Block from $39.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered H&R Block from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th.

H&R Block Price Performance

NYSE HRB opened at $55.39 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.46, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. The stock has a market cap of $7.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.51, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.67. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $61.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $57.64. H&R Block has a 52-week low of $42.28 and a 52-week high of $68.45.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported ($1.17) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.13) by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $193.81 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $188.78 million. H&R Block had a negative return on equity of 212.45% and a net margin of 16.19%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($1.05) EPS. Analysts anticipate that H&R Block will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

H&R Block Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be given a dividend of $0.375 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.71%. H&R Block’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.59%.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 9,722 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.07, for a total value of $613,166.54. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 893,169 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,332,168.83. This represents a 1.08 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Kellie J. Logerwell sold 8,000 shares of H&R Block stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total value of $515,280.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,474 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,189,910.34. This trade represents a 30.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On H&R Block

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in H&R Block by 42.3% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 49,650 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,438,000 after purchasing an additional 14,760 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its position in shares of H&R Block by 270.7% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 16,319 shares of the company’s stock valued at $885,000 after acquiring an additional 11,917 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of H&R Block by 576.5% during the 1st 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 last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of H&R Block by 24.5% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 94,270 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,629,000 after purchasing an additional 18,556 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in H&R Block in the 1st quarter valued at about $10,581,000. 90.14% of the stock is owned by 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.