Boston Partners Has $206.95 Million Stock Position in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

Key Points

• Boston Partners decreased its holdings in H&R Block by 16.3%, selling 732,640 shares, and now owns approximately 2.81% of the company.
• H&R Block recently announced an increase in its quarterly dividend from $0.38 to $0.42, with an annualized yield of 3.4%.
• The company's earnings report revealed an EPS of $2.27, which missed the consensus estimate by $0.54, although revenue was up 4.6% year-over-year.

Boston Partners trimmed its holdings in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB - Free Report) by 16.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,767,912 shares of the company's stock after selling 732,640 shares during the quarter. Boston Partners owned 2.81% of H&R Block worth $206,947,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of HRB. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. raised its position in H&R Block by 12.5% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings 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 worth $136,591,000 after purchasing an additional 695,581 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of H&R Block by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,345,222 shares of the company's stock worth $123,922,000 after purchasing an additional 191,595 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in H&R Block by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,335,353 shares of the company's stock valued at $123,395,000 after buying an additional 30,244 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in H&R Block by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,250,059 shares of the company's stock worth $118,871,000 after purchasing an additional 120,181 shares in the last quarter. 90.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

H&R Block Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of HRB traded up $0.78 on Friday, hitting $50.15. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,422,271 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,499,851. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.22, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.24. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $54.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $55.69. H&R Block, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $47.00 and a fifty-two week high of $68.45.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 12th. The company reported $2.27 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.89 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 4th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. This is an increase from H&R Block's previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. H&R Block's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.56%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on HRB shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of H&R Block from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Barrington Research cut their price objective on shares of H&R Block from $70.00 to $62.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of H&R Block from $54.00 to $48.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Northcoast Research lowered H&R Block from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd.

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.