Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Increases Stock Holdings in H&R Block, Inc. $HRB

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its position in shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) by 1.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 67,738 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 865 shares during the quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC owned about 0.05% of H&R Block worth $3,718,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in H&R Block by 12,484.2% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 82,804 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,547,000 after purchasing an additional 82,146 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in shares of H&R Block by 16.9% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 5,480 shares of the company’s stock valued at $301,000 after purchasing an additional 794 shares in the last quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC grew its position in H&R Block by 22.9% in the first quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 12,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $686,000 after acquiring an additional 2,327 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its position in H&R Block by 29.3% in the first quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 21,985 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,207,000 after acquiring an additional 4,987 shares during the period. Finally, First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. grew its position in H&R Block by 2.9% in the first quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 10,862 shares of the company’s stock worth $596,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.14% of the company’s stock.

H&R Block Price Performance

HRB stock opened at $50.57 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $51.46 and a 200-day moving average of $55.11. H&R Block, Inc. has a 12-month low of $47.00 and a 12-month high of $64.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.86. The company has a market cap of $6.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.31, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.31.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 12th. The company reported $2.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.81 by ($0.54). The company had revenue of $1.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.07 billion. H&R Block had a negative return on equity of 191.38% and a net margin of 16.11%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.89 earnings per share. H&R Block has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.850-5.000 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that H&R Block, Inc. will post 5.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

H&R Block Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 4th were given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This is a positive change from H&R Block’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 4th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. H&R Block’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.58%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HRB has been the topic of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on H&R Block from $54.00 to $48.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $62.00 price target on shares of H&R Block in a research note on Tuesday, September 23rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of H&R Block in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered H&R Block from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $55.00.

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.