Bridgewater Associates LP Grows Stock Position in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

Bridgewater Associates LP increased its holdings in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) by 96.4% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 309,664 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 151,978 shares during the quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP’s holdings in H&R Block were worth $19,679,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HRB. CWM LLC grew its position in shares of H&R Block by 270.7% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 16,319 shares of the company’s stock valued at $885,000 after acquiring an additional 11,917 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in H&R Block by 576.5% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 580,227 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,496,000 after buying an additional 494,457 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in shares of H&R Block by 24.5% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 94,270 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,629,000 after buying an additional 18,556 shares during the period. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of H&R Block during the 1st quarter valued at about $10,581,000. Finally, Algert Global LLC grew its stake in shares of H&R Block by 413.1% during the 3rd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 72,110 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,583,000 after acquiring an additional 58,057 shares during the period. 90.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HRB has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of H&R Block from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of H&R Block in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on H&R Block from $39.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th.

H&R Block Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:HRB opened at $59.39 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $8.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.49, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.67. H&R Block, Inc. has a 12 month low of $42.28 and a 12 month high of $68.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.46. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $61.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $57.93.

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

H&R Block Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.375 per share. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. H&R Block’s payout ratio is currently 36.59%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at H&R Block

In related news, VP Kellie J. Logerwell sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was 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 owns 18,474 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,189,910.34. The trade was a 30.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 9,722 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.07, for a total value of $613,166.54. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 893,169 shares in the company, valued at $56,332,168.83. The trade was a 1.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.