H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) have been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the five research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have issued a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $55.00.

HRB has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on H&R Block from $54.00 to $48.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Zacks Research downgraded H&R Block from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of H&R Block in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $62.00 price objective on shares of H&R Block in a report on Monday, October 27th.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 128,818 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.54, for a total value of $5,737,553.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 861,313 shares in the company, valued at $38,362,881.02. This represents a 13.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On H&R Block

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of HRB. Boston Partners increased its position in H&R Block by 20.2% in the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,886,544 shares of the company’s stock worth $196,542,000 after buying an additional 652,690 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of H&R Block by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 3,213,177 shares of the company’s stock valued at $162,490,000 after buying an additional 26,708 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of H&R Block by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,849,655 shares of the company’s stock valued at $156,439,000 after acquiring an additional 150,184 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in H&R Block by 10.9% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,750,413 shares of the company’s stock worth $139,088,000 after acquiring an additional 269,581 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in H&R Block by 60.4% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,593,290 shares of the company’s stock worth $130,961,000 after acquiring an additional 976,069 shares during the period. 90.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

H&R Block Stock Performance

HRB stock traded up $0.55 on Friday, hitting $43.88. The company had a trading volume of 2,031,685 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,496,085. H&R Block has a 12-month low of $43.01 and a 12-month high of $64.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.86. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $49.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $53.06. The stock has a market cap of $5.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.82, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.32.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported ($1.20) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.40) by $0.20. The business had revenue of $203.55 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $200.13 million. H&R Block had a net margin of 16.11% and a negative return on equity of 191.38%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($1.17) EPS. H&R Block has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.850-5.000 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that H&R Block will post 5.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

H&R Block Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 4th will be given a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 4th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. H&R Block’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.75%.

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.