Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Makes New Investment in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund bought a new position in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 9,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $511,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its position in H&R Block by 26.8% in the 4th quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 58,628 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,097,000 after purchasing an additional 12,390 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in H&R Block in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,821,000. Algert Global LLC grew its position in H&R Block by 413.1% in the 3rd 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. grew 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 worth $313,735,000 after purchasing an additional 255,354 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new position in H&R Block in the 4th quarter worth about $362,000. Institutional investors own 90.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of H&R Block in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com cut shares of H&R Block from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th.

H&R Block Trading Up 1.3 %

H&R Block stock opened at $52.44 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $53.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $58.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.46, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.02 billion, a PE ratio of 14.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.69. H&R Block, Inc. has a 12-month low of $45.64 and a 12-month high of $68.45.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported ($1.73) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.59) by ($0.14). H&R Block had a net margin of 14.71% and a negative return on equity of 179.15%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that H&R Block, Inc. will post 5.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

H&R Block Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.375 per share. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 4th. H&R Block’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.32%.

About H&R Block

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.