Point72 DIFC Ltd Makes New Investment in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 11,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $738,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in H&R Block in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,821,000. IHT Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of H&R Block by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,586 shares of the company’s stock valued at $355,000 after buying an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its position in shares of H&R Block by 114.6% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 87,532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,563,000 after buying an additional 46,736 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in H&R Block by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 62,859 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,997,000 after acquiring an additional 1,212 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in H&R Block by 18.5% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 17,982 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,147,000 after acquiring an additional 2,803 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HRB has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com cut H&R Block from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of H&R Block in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on H&R Block from $39.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Kellie J. Logerwell sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total value of $515,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,474 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,189,910.34. This trade represents a 30.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

H&R Block Price Performance

Shares of HRB opened at $57.35 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.46, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. H&R Block, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $42.28 and a fifty-two week high of $68.45. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $60.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $58.15. The company has a market capitalization of $7.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.66.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported ($1.17) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.13) by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $193.81 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $188.78 million. H&R Block had a negative return on equity of 212.45% and a net margin of 16.19%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($1.05) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that H&R Block, Inc. will post 5.27 earnings per share for the current year.

H&R Block Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.62%. H&R Block’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.59%.

H&R Block announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, August 15th that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 16.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.