H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) Shares Acquired by Bank of Nova Scotia

Bank of Nova Scotia increased its stake in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) by 4.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 6,170 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 261 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in H&R Block were worth $326,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in shares of H&R Block in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Spire Wealth Management acquired a new stake in H&R Block in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new stake in H&R Block in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in H&R Block by 64.5% in the fourth 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. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its position in shares of H&R Block by 52.6% in the 4th quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 838 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 289 shares during the last quarter. 90.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

H&R Block Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of H&R Block stock opened at $61.51 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.46. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $53.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $56.26. The stock has a market cap of $8.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.94, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.39. H&R Block, Inc. has a 12-month low of $45.87 and a 12-month high of $68.45.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last released its quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that H&R Block, Inc. will post 5.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

H&R Block Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th were given a dividend of $0.375 per share. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 4th. H&R Block’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.32%.

About H&R Block

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.