Alberta Investment Management Corp Sells 47,900 Shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

Key Points

• Alberta Investment Management Corp reduced its stake in H&R Block by 53.2% this quarter, selling 47,900 shares and leaving it with a total of 42,100 shares worth approximately $2.31 million.
• Institutional investors collectively own 90.14% of H&R Block's stock, with several hedge funds significantly increasing their positions in the company during the last quarter.
• H&R Block announced a quarterly dividend of $0.375 per share, reflecting a 2.7% dividend yield, with a payout ratio of 36.76%.

Alberta Investment Management Corp lowered its position in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB - Free Report) by 53.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 42,100 shares of the company's stock after selling 47,900 shares during the quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp's holdings in H&R Block were worth $2,312,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of HRB. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 523,353 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in H&R Block by 36.8% during the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,585,026 shares of the company's stock valued at $136,591,000 after purchasing an additional 695,581 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in H&R Block by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,345,222 shares of the company's stock valued at $123,922,000 after purchasing an additional 191,595 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in H&R Block by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,335,353 shares of the company's stock valued at $123,395,000 after purchasing an additional 30,244 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in H&R Block by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,250,059 shares of the company's stock valued at $118,871,000 after purchasing an additional 120,181 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.14% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on HRB. Wall Street Zen raised H&R Block from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Northcoast Research cut H&R Block from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on H&R Block from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Barrington Research reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of H&R Block in a report on Friday, April 25th.

H&R Block Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HRB traded up $0.52 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $55.00. The stock had a trading volume of 912,650 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,006,991. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $55.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $55.78. The firm has a market cap of $7.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.24. H&R Block, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $49.16 and a fifty-two week high of $68.45.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $5.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.12 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.25 billion. H&R Block had a negative return on equity of 179.57% and a net margin of 15.20%. 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 EPS. Equities analysts expect that H&R Block, Inc. will post 5.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

H&R Block Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th were paid a $0.375 dividend. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 4th. H&R Block's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.76%.

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.