H&R Block, Inc. $HRB Shares Newly Purchased by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 23,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $942,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its position in H&R Block by 50.9% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 3,761,094 shares of the company’s stock worth $119,377,000 after acquiring an additional 1,269,064 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in H&R Block in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $56,220,000. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in H&R Block by 26.2% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,328,584 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,169,000 after acquiring an additional 276,193 shares in the last quarter. Lodge Hill Capital LLC grew its position in H&R Block by 31.2% in the first quarter. Lodge Hill Capital LLC now owns 1,050,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,327,000 after acquiring an additional 250,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in H&R Block by 29.9% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 692,760 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,988,000 after acquiring an additional 159,369 shares in the last quarter. 90.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HRB has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barrington Research lifted their price objective on shares of H&R Block from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of H&R Block from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 14th. Zacks Research lowered shares of H&R Block from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of H&R Block from $29.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Stephens began coverage on shares of H&R Block in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $47.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.67.

H&R Block Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of HRB opened at $52.74 on Monday. H&R Block, Inc. has a one year low of $28.16 and a one year high of $58.67. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $46.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.69, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.13. The company has a market capitalization of $6.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.22, a P/E/G ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 0.40.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 11th. The company reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.17. H&R Block had a negative return on equity of 214.84% and a net margin of 18.59%. The company had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.27 EPS. H&R Block’s revenue for the quarter was up 255.5% compared to the same quarter last year. H&R Block has set its FY 2027 guidance at 6.040-6.240 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that H&R Block, Inc. will post 6.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

H&R Block Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 3rd were given a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 3rd. This is an increase from H&R Block’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. H&R Block’s dividend payout ratio is 32.17%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Mark J. Darling sold 2,700 shares of H&R Block stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.69, for a total value of $109,863.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 21,588 shares in the company, valued at approximately $878,415.72. The trade was a 11.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.67% of the company’s stock.

About H&R Block

H&R Block, Inc provides tax preparation and related financial services to individuals and small businesses. Its offerings include in-person tax preparation, online do-it-yourself filing, virtual tax assistance, and tax software, along with bookkeeping and other small-business services through its Block Advisors and Wave brands.

Founded in 1955 in Kansas City, Missouri, by brothers Henry and Richard Bloch, the company grew from a local tax preparation business into a provider of tax services through offices and digital channels.