Ieq Capital LLC Boosts Holdings in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

Ieq Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) by 49.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,348 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,401 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC’s holdings in H&R Block were worth $705,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 255,354 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of H&R Block by 21.1% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,735,189 shares of the company’s stock valued at $144,527,000 after acquiring an additional 476,892 shares in the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its stake in shares of H&R Block by 13.8% in the fourth quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 884,714 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,748,000 after acquiring an additional 107,450 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of H&R Block by 3.5% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 754,287 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,935,000 after purchasing an additional 25,234 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in H&R Block by 29.0% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 698,101 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,364,000 after purchasing an additional 156,856 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on HRB. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of H&R Block in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of H&R Block from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th.

H&R Block Price Performance

HRB stock opened at $54.17 on Wednesday. H&R Block, Inc. has a 1 year low of $45.87 and a 1 year high of $68.45. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $7.25 billion, a PE ratio of 14.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.69. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $53.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $58.39.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last issued its earnings results 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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that H&R Block, Inc. will post 5.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

H&R Block Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th will be issued a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.77%. H&R Block’s payout ratio is 41.32%.

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.