Clark Capital Management Group Inc. Raises Position in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

Clark Capital Management Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB - Free Report) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 764,320 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 5,607 shares during the quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. owned 0.56% of H&R Block worth $40,387,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Boston Partners grew its position in H&R Block by 58.5% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,500,552 shares of the company's stock worth $237,814,000 after acquiring an additional 1,660,319 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in H&R Block in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $57,253,000. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its position in H&R Block by 12.5% in the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,701,896 shares of the company's stock worth $248,448,000 after purchasing an additional 523,353 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp bought a new stake in shares of H&R Block during the 4th quarter valued at $25,552,000. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of H&R Block by 21.1% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,735,189 shares of the company's stock valued at $144,527,000 after buying an additional 476,892 shares in the last quarter. 90.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 53,810 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.28, for a total value of $3,405,096.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 844,790 shares in the company, valued at $53,458,311.20. This trade represents a 5.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on HRB shares. StockNews.com upgraded H&R Block from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Barrington Research reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of H&R Block in a report on Friday, April 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of H&R Block from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Northcoast Research downgraded H&R Block from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd.

H&R Block Stock Down 1.4%

NYSE:HRB traded down $0.78 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $56.17. The company's stock had a trading volume of 577,413 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,379,935. H&R Block, Inc. has a one year low of $48.23 and a one year high of $68.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.46, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The business's 50-day moving average is $56.99 and its 200-day moving average is $56.11. The company has a market cap of $7.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.28.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $5.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.12 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.25 billion. H&R Block had a net margin of 14.71% and a negative return on equity of 179.15%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.94 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict 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 Thursday, July 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be given a $0.375 dividend. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 4th. H&R Block's payout ratio is presently 36.76%.

H&R Block Company 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.