FORA Capital LLC Acquires Shares of 20,327 H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

FORA Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 20,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,074,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. increased its position in H&R Block by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 764,320 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,387,000 after acquiring an additional 5,607 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in shares of H&R Block by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 44,395 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,346,000 after purchasing an additional 1,111 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in H&R Block by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,525 shares of the company’s stock worth $239,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares during the last quarter. Crestline Management LP acquired a new position in H&R Block during the 4th quarter worth $1,422,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in H&R Block by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 37,598 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,987,000 after buying an additional 4,313 shares during the last quarter. 90.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HRB has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com raised H&R Block from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Northcoast Research lowered shares of H&R Block from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of H&R Block in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of H&R Block from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday.

H&R Block Price Performance

H&R Block stock opened at $57.61 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.87, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.28. The business has a 50-day moving average of $56.81 and a 200-day moving average of $56.18. H&R Block, Inc. has a 1 year low of $48.23 and a 1 year high of $68.45.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $5.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.12 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.25 billion. H&R Block had a net margin of 14.71% and a negative return on equity of 179.15%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.94 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that H&R Block, Inc. will post 5.25 EPS for the current year.

H&R Block Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be paid a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.60%. H&R Block’s payout ratio is 41.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 53,810 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.28, for a total transaction of $3,405,096.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 844,790 shares in the company, valued at $53,458,311.20. This trade represents a 5.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

H&R Block Company Profile

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.