Head-To-Head Contrast: H&R Block (HRB) and The Competition

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) is one of 166 publicly-traded companies in the “Diversified Consumer Services” industry, but how does it compare to its competitors? We will compare H&R Block to related businesses based on the strength of its risk, dividends, valuation, profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Dividends

H&R Block pays an annual dividend of $1.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. H&R Block pays out 32.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Diversified Consumer Services” companies pay a dividend yield of 6.0% and pay out 36.1% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. H&R Block has increased its dividend for 9 consecutive years.

Profitability

This table compares H&R Block and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
H&R Block	18.59%	-214.84%	22.56%
H&R Block Competitors	-3.16%	-28.48%	2.42%

Volatility and Risk

H&R Block has a beta of 0.38, meaning that its stock price is 62% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, H&R Block’s competitors have a beta of 0.58, meaning that their average stock price is 42% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for H&R Block and its competitors, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
H&R Block	1	2	1	1	2.40
H&R Block Competitors	1427	3417	5265	193	2.41

H&R Block currently has a consensus price target of $46.67, suggesting a potential downside of 5.93%. As a group, “Diversified Consumer Services” companies have a potential upside of 63.45%. Given H&R Block’s competitors stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe H&R Block has less favorable growth aspects than its competitors.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares H&R Block and its competitors gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
H&R Block	$3.95 billion	$733.60 million	8.67
H&R Block Competitors	$3.53 billion	$219.82 million	12.11

H&R Block has higher revenue and earnings than its competitors. H&R Block is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

90.1% of H&R Block shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 48.4% of shares of all “Diversified Consumer Services” companies are held by institutional investors. 0.7% of H&R Block shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 20.2% of shares of all “Diversified Consumer Services” companies are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

H&R Block competitors beat H&R Block on 8 of the 15 factors compared.

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.