Park Avenue Securities LLC Increases Holdings in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) by 7.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 16,998 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,141 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in H&R Block were worth $898,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of HRB. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in H&R Block during the third quarter valued at $1,821,000. Algert Global LLC lifted its position in shares of H&R Block by 413.1% during the third quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 72,110 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,583,000 after purchasing an additional 58,057 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in H&R Block by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,936,829 shares of the company’s stock valued at $313,735,000 after buying an additional 255,354 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of H&R Block by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 754,287 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,935,000 after buying an additional 25,234 shares during the period. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new stake in shares of H&R Block in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,613,000. Institutional investors own 90.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of H&R Block in a research report on Friday, November 8th.

H&R Block Stock Performance

Shares of HRB opened at $54.95 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 50-day moving average of $55.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $58.78. The stock has a market cap of $7.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.40, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.69. H&R Block, Inc. has a one year low of $42.28 and a one year high of $68.45.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 for 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 quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($1.05) EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that H&R Block, Inc. will post 5.27 EPS for the current year.

H&R Block Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were paid a dividend of $0.375 per share. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.73%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 5th. H&R Block’s payout ratio is 36.59%.

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.