Northern Trust Corp Buys 263,274 Shares of H&R Block, Inc. $HRB

Key Points

• Northern Trust Corp has increased its holdings in H&R Block by 11.2% in the first quarter, now owning over 2.6 million shares valued at approximately $143 million.
• H&R Block recently reported earnings of $2.27 per share, missing expectations, while revenue increased by 4.6% year-over-year, totaling $1.11 billion.
• The company announced a dividend increase to $0.42 per share, effective October 6th, raising its annual dividend yield to 3.2%.

Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB - Free Report) by 11.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,608,496 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 263,274 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned about 1.95% of H&R Block worth $143,233,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in HRB. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of H&R Block by 36.8% in the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,585,026 shares of the company's stock valued at $136,591,000 after buying an additional 695,581 shares during the period. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY acquired a new stake in H&R Block in the first quarter valued at approximately $30,429,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of H&R Block by 88.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 914,884 shares of the company's stock valued at $48,342,000 after acquiring an additional 429,101 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp lifted its holdings in shares of H&R Block by 52.2% in the 1st quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 735,757 shares of the company's stock worth $40,400,000 after purchasing an additional 252,185 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management lifted its holdings in shares of H&R Block by 14.3% in the 1st 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.14% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on HRB. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of 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. Wall Street Zen raised shares of H&R Block from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Northcoast Research downgraded H&R Block from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Zacks Research lowered H&R Block from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Barrington Research dropped their target price on H&R Block from $70.00 to $62.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $55.00.

H&R Block Stock Performance

H&R Block stock traded down $0.80 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $50.10. 518,509 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,503,124. The company has a market cap of $6.71 billion, a PE ratio of 11.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.24. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $54.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $55.49. H&R Block, Inc. has a one year low of $47.00 and a one year high of $64.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.86.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB - Get Free Report) last posted 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.07 billion. H&R Block had a net margin of 16.11% and a negative return on equity of 191.38%. The company's revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.89 earnings per share. H&R Block has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.850-5.000 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that H&R Block, Inc. will post 5.25 EPS for the current year.

H&R Block Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 4th will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 4th. This is a positive change from H&R Block's previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. H&R Block's payout ratio is presently 33.56%.

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.