Empowered Funds LLC Acquires 118,228 Shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) by 1,013.7% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 129,891 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 118,228 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in H&R Block were worth $8,255,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in H&R Block by 42.3% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 49,650 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,438,000 after acquiring an additional 14,760 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its holdings in H&R Block by 270.7% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 16,319 shares of the company’s stock worth $885,000 after purchasing an additional 11,917 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of H&R Block by 576.5% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 580,227 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,496,000 after buying an additional 494,457 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted 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 buying an additional 18,556 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of H&R Block in the 1st quarter worth approximately $10,581,000. 90.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at H&R Block

In related news, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 9,722 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.07, for a total value of $613,166.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 893,169 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Tony G. Bowen sold 79,259 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.17, for a total transaction of $5,165,309.03. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 90,095 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,871,491.15. The trade was a 46.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 115,927 shares of company stock valued at $7,517,056. 1.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on HRB shares. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of H&R Block in a research note on Friday, November 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on 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 research note on Friday, August 16th.

H&R Block Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of HRB stock opened at $60.08 on Friday. H&R Block, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $42.28 and a fifty-two week high of $68.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.23 billion, a PE ratio of 14.65, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.67. 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $61.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $57.36.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported ($1.17) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.13) by ($0.04). H&R Block had a negative return on equity of 212.45% and a net margin of 16.19%. The business had revenue of $193.81 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $188.78 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($1.05) EPS. Equities analysts expect that H&R Block, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

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

H&R Block Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.50%. H&R Block’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.