Royce & Associates LP Decreases Position in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

Royce & Associates LP cut its holdings in shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) by 8.5% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 142,756 shares of the company’s stock after selling 13,300 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP’s holdings in H&R Block were worth $7,839,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in H&R Block during the fourth quarter valued at $57,253,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in H&R Block by 36.8% in the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,585,026 shares of the company’s stock worth $136,591,000 after purchasing an additional 695,581 shares in the last quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY bought a new position in shares of H&R Block during the first quarter worth $30,429,000. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of H&R Block by 12.5% during the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,701,896 shares of the company’s stock valued at $248,448,000 after purchasing an additional 523,353 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in H&R Block by 88.3% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 914,884 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,342,000 after buying an additional 429,101 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.14% of the company’s stock.

H&R Block Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of H&R Block stock opened at $55.86 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $56.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $55.77. The company has a market cap of $7.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.69, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.24. H&R Block, Inc. has a 52-week low of $49.16 and a 52-week high of $68.45.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $5.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.12 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.25 billion. H&R Block had a net margin of 15.20% and a negative return on equity of 179.57%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $4.94 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that H&R Block, Inc. will post 5.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

H&R Block Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 4th were issued a dividend of $0.375 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.69%. H&R Block’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.76%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on HRB shares. Northcoast Research cut shares of H&R Block from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of H&R Block in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Wall Street Zen upgraded H&R Block from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of H&R Block from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th.

H&R Block 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.