Lazard Asset Management LLC Boosts Holdings in H&R Block, Inc. $HRB

Key Points

• Lazard Asset Management increased its H&R Block stake by 50.9% in the first quarter, adding 1.27 million shares to own approximately 2.97% of the company, worth $119.4 million. Institutional investors collectively hold 90.14% of HRB shares.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly positive, with H&R Block carrying a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $41.00.
• H&R Block reported quarterly earnings of $6.02 per share and revenue of $2.40 billion, exceeding estimates and representing 5.3% year-over-year revenue growth. The company also pays a $0.42 quarterly dividend, or $1.68 annually, yielding about 4.1%.

Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB - Free Report) by 50.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,761,094 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,269,064 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC owned about 2.97% of H&R Block worth $119,377,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in shares of H&R Block by 85.4% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 2,191 shares of the company's stock valued at $119,000 after purchasing an additional 1,009 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in H&R Block by 3.6% in the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 11,423 shares of the company's stock valued at $627,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of H&R Block by 15.2% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 848,532 shares of the company's stock worth $46,593,000 after buying an additional 112,127 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in shares of H&R Block by 100.8% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 711 shares of the company's stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 357 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in H&R Block by 119.2% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 914 shares of the company's stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 497 shares during the period. 90.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on HRB. Barrington Research reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of H&R Block in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Zacks Research raised shares of H&R Block from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of H&R Block from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, H&R Block currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $41.00.

H&R Block Price Performance

H&R Block stock opened at $40.78 on Monday. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $38.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $35.50. H&R Block, Inc. has a 1-year low of $28.16 and a 1-year high of $56.51. The company has a market cap of $5.17 billion, a PE ratio of 7.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 0.36.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $6.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.77 by $0.25. H&R Block had a net margin of 18.90% and a negative return on equity of 211.62%. The company had revenue of $2.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.34 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.38 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. H&R Block has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.100-5.20 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that H&R Block, Inc. will post 5.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

H&R Block Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 7th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 3rd. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. H&R Block's payout ratio is currently 29.89%.

H&R Block Company Profile

H&R Block NYSE: HRB is a leading provider of tax preparation services and software solutions, serving individual and small-business clients through a combination of retail offices, online platforms and mobile applications. The company offers assisted tax preparation at its network of retail offices, where clients work with trained tax professionals, as well as do-it-yourself (DIY) software and online filing services designed to guide users through the complexities of federal and state tax returns.

Founded in 1955 by brothers Henry W.

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