Federated Hermes Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in H&R Block, Inc. $HRB

Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) by 130.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 213,993 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 121,131 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. owned 0.16% of H&R Block worth $11,746,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in H&R Block by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,849,655 shares of the company’s stock valued at $156,439,000 after acquiring an additional 150,184 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position 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 valued at $143,233,000 after purchasing an additional 263,274 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of H&R Block by 5.9% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,141,988 shares of the company’s stock valued at $117,617,000 after purchasing an additional 119,510 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of H&R Block in the second quarter worth approximately $97,826,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in shares of H&R Block by 5.5% in the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,598,656 shares of the company’s stock worth $87,750,000 after buying an additional 83,103 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at H&R Block

In related news, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 128,818 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.54, for a total value of $5,737,553.72. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 861,313 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,362,881.02. This represents a 13.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on HRB. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $62.00 price target on shares of H&R Block in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of H&R Block in a report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price 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. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded H&R Block from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $55.00.

H&R Block Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of HRB opened at $41.62 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $47.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $51.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.35, a PEG ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.86. H&R Block, Inc. has a 1-year low of $41.17 and a 1-year high of $64.62.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported ($1.20) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.40) by $0.20. H&R Block had a net margin of 16.24% and a negative return on equity of 169.98%. The company had revenue of $203.55 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $200.13 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($1.17) earnings per share. H&R Block’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. Sell-side analysts anticipate that H&R Block, Inc. will post 5.25 EPS for the current year.

H&R Block Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 4th will be paid a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 4th. H&R Block’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.75%.

H&R Block Profile

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.