H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) Short Interest Update

H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 11,000,000 shares, a growth of 23.2% from the September 30th total of 8,930,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,320,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 8.3 days. Currently, 8.0% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Kellie J. Logerwell sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total value of $515,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,474 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,189,910.34. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, VP Kellie J. Logerwell sold 8,000 shares of H&R Block stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total transaction of $515,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,474 shares in the company, valued at $1,189,910.34. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Tony G. Bowen sold 79,259 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.17, for a total value 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. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 115,927 shares of company stock worth $7,517,056. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of H&R Block

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HRB. Rockland Trust Co. raised its holdings in shares of H&R Block by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 16,866 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,072,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. TriaGen Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of H&R Block by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. TriaGen Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,642 shares of the company’s stock worth $469,000 after acquiring an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in H&R Block by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 24,467 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,327,000 after acquiring an additional 251 shares during the period. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in H&R Block by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 5,035 shares of the company’s stock valued at $249,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Axiom Advisory LLC boosted its position in H&R Block by 1.6% during the third quarter. Axiom Advisory LLC now owns 18,048 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,076,000 after purchasing an additional 282 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HRB has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com cut H&R Block from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of H&R Block in a research note on Monday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of H&R Block from $39.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th.

H&R Block Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of HRB stock traded up $0.60 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $60.70. The company had a trading volume of 968,800 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,158,016. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.46, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.27. H&R Block has a 1-year low of $39.20 and a 1-year high of $68.45. The company has a 50 day moving average of $62.51 and a 200 day moving average of $56.30. The firm has a market cap of $8.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.89, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.66.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The company reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.03 billion. H&R Block had a net margin of 16.49% and a negative return on equity of 220.05%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.05 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that H&R Block will post 5.22 EPS for the current year.

H&R Block Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 5th were paid a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 5th. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.47%. This is a positive change from H&R Block’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. H&R Block’s payout ratio is presently 34.32%.

H&R Block declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, August 15th that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 16.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.