Pacer Advisors Inc. Acquires 213,619 Shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) by 13.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,796,342 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 213,619 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. owned 1.18% of H&R Block worth $57,249,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of H&R Block by 19.2% in the first quarter. FMR LLC now owns 22,837,684 shares of the company’s stock worth $805,028,000 after acquiring an additional 3,679,366 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of H&R Block by 1.8% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,588,344 shares of the company’s stock worth $302,739,000 after acquiring an additional 151,487 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of H&R Block by 13.9% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,889,986 shares of the company’s stock worth $207,444,000 after acquiring an additional 961,159 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of H&R Block by 0.7% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 5,944,998 shares of the company’s stock worth $154,807,000 after acquiring an additional 40,977 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of H&R Block by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,912,048 shares of the company’s stock worth $142,829,000 after acquiring an additional 302,482 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.89% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at H&R Block

In other H&R Block news, VP Kellie J. Logerwell sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.61, for a total transaction of $316,880.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 27,721 shares in the company, valued at $1,098,028.81. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, VP Kellie J. Logerwell sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.61, for a total value of $316,880.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 27,721 shares in the company, valued at $1,098,028.81. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 91,192 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.00, for a total value of $3,465,296.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 812,150 shares in the company, valued at $30,861,700. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on HRB shares. Barrington Research increased their price target on H&R Block from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 16th. StockNews.com started coverage on H&R Block in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on H&R Block from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 16th.

H&R Block Trading Down 0.1 %

HRB stock traded down $0.03 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $40.78. 433,477 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,612,737. H&R Block, Inc. has a 52-week low of $28.83 and a 52-week high of $45.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 46.44, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26. The business has a 50 day moving average of $36.59 and a 200-day moving average of $34.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.44, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.63.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 15th. The company reported $2.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.88 by $0.17. H&R Block had a negative return on equity of 263.99% and a net margin of 15.95%. The business had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.43 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that H&R Block, Inc. will post 4.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

H&R Block Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 7th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 6th. This is an increase from H&R Block’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.14%. H&R Block’s dividend payout ratio is 35.85%.

About H&R Block

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.