Analyzing H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) & bpost (OTCMKTS:BPOSY)

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) and bpost (OTCMKTS:BPOSY) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk, valuation, earnings and dividends.

Risk & Volatility

H&R Block has a beta of 0.24, meaning that its stock price is 76% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, bpost has a beta of 0.84, meaning that its stock price is 16% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

H&R Block pays an annual dividend of $1.50 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. bpost pays an annual dividend of $0.07 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. H&R Block pays out 36.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. bpost pays out -5.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. H&R Block has raised its dividend for 9 consecutive years. bpost is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for H&R Block and bpost, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
H&R Block	1	1	1	0	2.00
bpost	0	0	0	0	0.00

H&R Block currently has a consensus price target of $62.00, indicating a potential upside of 9.17%. Given H&R Block’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe H&R Block is more favorable than bpost.

Profitability

This table compares H&R Block and bpost’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
H&R Block	15.20%	-179.57%	20.56%
bpost	-5.69%	7.45%	1.45%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

90.1% of H&R Block shares are held by institutional investors. 1.3% of H&R Block shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares H&R Block and bpost”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
H&R Block	$3.61 billion	2.11	$595.32 million	$4.08	13.92
bpost	$4.68 billion	0.11	-$221.94 million	($1.36)	-1.89

H&R Block has higher earnings, but lower revenue than bpost. bpost is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than H&R Block, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

H&R Block beats bpost on 12 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About bpost

bpost NV/SA, together with its subsidiaries, provides mail and parcel services to individuals, businesses, and public institutions in Belgium, rest of Europe, the United States, and internationally. It operates through Belgium, E-Logistics Eurasia, and E-Logistics North America segments. The company offers collection, transport, sorting, and distribution of addressed and non-addressed mail, printed documents, newspapers, periodicals, and parcels, as well as banking and financial products, e-commerce logistics, express delivery, and related services. It also provides transactional mails, advertising mails, press, domestic and international parcels, and logistic solutions; e-commerce fulfilment, including warehousing and handling of goods; e-commerce cross-border services, including custom duties services; operational back-office services, including call center, payment and financial, fraud and tax, administrative and document management services; and proximity and convenience services, such as the access to the network and over-the-counter service for different partners and sale of self-produced goods, as well as retail products and goods of partners, including bpost bank products; repair of electronics; and import services. The company was founded in 1830 and is headquartered in Brussels, Belgium.