Lecap Asset Management Ltd. Buys New Stake in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

Lecap Asset Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 9,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $460,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of HRB. Trexquant Investment LP boosted its holdings in H&R Block by 198.1% during the third quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 223,138 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,608,000 after buying an additional 148,274 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of H&R Block by 33.0% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 155,054 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,500,000 after buying an additional 38,476 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of H&R Block in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,228,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of H&R Block by 14.2% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 514,674 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,162,000 after acquiring an additional 63,942 shares during the period. Finally, AXQ Capital LP purchased a new stake in H&R Block during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,184,000. 90.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on HRB. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on H&R Block from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. StockNews.com raised shares of H&R Block from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 7th.

Insider Transactions at H&R Block

In other H&R Block news, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 85,921 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.21, for a total transaction of $4,228,172.41. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 755,359 shares in the company, valued at $37,171,216.39. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

H&R Block Price Performance

HRB opened at $46.26 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $47.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $46.10. H&R Block, Inc. has a 12 month low of $28.83 and a 12 month high of $52.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.70.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported ($1.27) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.58) by $0.31. The business had revenue of $179.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $169.45 million. H&R Block had a negative return on equity of 227.22% and a net margin of 16.98%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($1.37) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that H&R Block, Inc. will post 4.25 earnings per share for the current year.

H&R Block Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 5th were issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 4th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.77%. H&R Block’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.26%.

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.