Venture Visionary Partners LLC Makes New $222,000 Investment in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

Venture Visionary Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 3,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $222,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of H&R Block by 52.2% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,738,190 shares of the company’s stock valued at $148,492,000 after buying an additional 939,270 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its stake in H&R Block by 30.2% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,270,919 shares of the company’s stock valued at $160,614,000 after acquiring an additional 758,827 shares during the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its position in shares of H&R Block by 1,630.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 777,264 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,395,000 after acquiring an additional 732,359 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of H&R Block by 39.7% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,131,451 shares of the company’s stock worth $115,418,000 after purchasing an additional 606,250 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of H&R Block by 11.8% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 5,295,911 shares of the company’s stock valued at $260,081,000 after purchasing an additional 558,076 shares during the period. 90.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

H&R Block Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of HRB stock opened at $60.50 on Thursday. H&R Block, Inc. has a 12-month low of $39.20 and a 12-month high of $68.45. The company has a market capitalization of $8.44 billion, a PE ratio of 13.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.66. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $62.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $55.83. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.46.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The company reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.03 billion. H&R Block had a negative return on equity of 220.05% and a net margin of 16.49%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.05 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that H&R Block, Inc. will post 5.22 earnings per share for the current year.

H&R Block Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, September 5th were paid a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 5th. This is an increase from H&R Block’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.48%. H&R Block’s dividend payout ratio is 34.32%.

H&R Block announced that its Board of Directors has authorized 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on HRB. StockNews.com cut H&R Block from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on H&R Block from $39.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of H&R Block in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other H&R Block news, VP Kellie J. Logerwell sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 18,474 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,189,910.34. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CFO Tony G. Bowen sold 79,259 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.17, for a total value of $5,165,309.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 90,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,871,491.15. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Kellie J. Logerwell sold 8,000 shares of the company’s 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 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 115,927 shares of company stock valued at $7,517,056. 1.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

H&R Block Profile

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.