Aviva PLC Purchases New Position in H&R Block, Inc. $HRB

Aviva PLC acquired a new position in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 9,335 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $512,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. New Vernon Capital Holdings II LLC grew its position in H&R Block by 5,391.0% in the first quarter. New Vernon Capital Holdings II LLC now owns 621,252 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,113,000 after acquiring an additional 609,938 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in H&R Block by 11.2% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,608,496 shares of the company’s stock worth $143,233,000 after purchasing an additional 263,274 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management boosted its holdings in H&R Block by 14.3% in the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,667,652 shares of the company’s stock worth $91,571,000 after purchasing an additional 209,019 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its position in H&R Block by 70.0% during the first quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 367,389 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,173,000 after buying an additional 151,224 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp raised its holdings in H&R Block by 17.5% during the second quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 864,851 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,472,000 after buying an additional 129,094 shares in the last quarter. 90.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on HRB shares. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $62.00 price target on shares of H&R Block in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Zacks Research cut H&R Block from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of H&R Block from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of H&R Block from $54.00 to $48.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $55.00.

H&R Block Stock Performance

NYSE HRB opened at $44.76 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $50.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $53.78. H&R Block, Inc. has a 52-week low of $44.73 and a 52-week high of $64.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.86, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.01, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.32.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported ($1.20) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.40) by $0.20. H&R Block had a net margin of 16.11% and a negative return on equity of 191.38%. The business had revenue of $203.55 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $200.13 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($1.17) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. H&R Block has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.850-5.000 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that H&R Block, Inc. will post 5.25 EPS for the current year.

H&R Block Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 4th will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 4th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. H&R Block’s payout ratio is currently 37.75%.

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.