Short Interest in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) Decreases By 5.0%

H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) was the target of a large decline in short interest in August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totalling 13,070,000 shares, a decline of 5.0% from the July 31st total of 13,760,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,560,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 8.4 days. Approximately 9.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

H&R Block Price Performance

Shares of HRB opened at $39.71 on Thursday. H&R Block has a fifty-two week low of $28.83 and a fifty-two week high of $46.13. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $34.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $34.09. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $5.84 billion, a PE ratio of 11.12, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.67.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 15th. The company reported $2.05 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.88 by $0.17. H&R Block had a net margin of 15.95% and a negative return on equity of 263.99%. The company had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.43 earnings per share. H&R Block’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that H&R Block will post 4.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

H&R Block Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 7th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 6th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.22%. This is a positive change from H&R Block’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. H&R Block’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 91,192 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.00, for a total value of $3,465,296.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 812,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,861,700. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of H&R Block

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HRB. MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its position in H&R Block by 32.0% during the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 112,342 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,925,000 after buying an additional 27,230 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS increased its position in shares of H&R Block by 3.6% during the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 60,302 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,570,000 after acquiring an additional 2,073 shares during the last quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can increased its position in shares of H&R Block by 10.5% during the first quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 116,912 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,134,000 after acquiring an additional 11,067 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of H&R Block by 1.4% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,888,095 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,167,000 after acquiring an additional 26,323 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in shares of H&R Block by 12.6% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 21,603 shares of the company’s stock valued at $563,000 after acquiring an additional 2,424 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.89% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on HRB. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of H&R Block in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of H&R Block from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 16th. Finally, Barrington Research upped their target price on shares of H&R Block from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 16th.

H&R Block Company 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.