Royce & Associates LP Decreases Stock Holdings in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

Royce & Associates LP lowered its stake in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) by 5.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 156,056 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,500 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP’s holdings in H&R Block were worth $8,246,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in HRB. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of H&R Block during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Spire Wealth Management bought a new stake in H&R Block during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in H&R Block during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in H&R Block in the third quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of H&R Block by 64.5% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 658 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 258 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on HRB. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of H&R Block in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com cut H&R Block from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th.

H&R Block Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HRB opened at $52.04 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $6.97 billion, a PE ratio of 14.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.65. H&R Block, Inc. has a 1 year low of $45.87 and a 1 year high of $68.45. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $53.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $57.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.46, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.73.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported ($1.73) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.59) by ($0.14). H&R Block had a negative return on equity of 179.15% and a net margin of 14.71%. Equities 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 firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th will be paid a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.88%. 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.