Sovereign s Capital Management LLC Makes New $842,000 Investment in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

Sovereign s Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 15,926 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $842,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in shares of H&R Block in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Spire Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of H&R Block in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of H&R Block in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its stake in shares of H&R Block by 52.6% in the fourth quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 838 shares of the company's stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 289 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in H&R Block in the fourth quarter worth $46,000. 90.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

H&R Block Stock Performance

Shares of H&R Block stock traded up $0.20 during trading on Friday, reaching $57.80. The company's stock had a trading volume of 891,607 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,381,578. 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 quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.73. The firm has a market cap of $7.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.28. The business's fifty day moving average price is $57.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $56.00.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $5.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.12 by $0.26. H&R Block had a negative return on equity of 179.15% and a net margin of 14.71%. The firm had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.94 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that H&R Block, Inc. will post 5.25 earnings per share for the current year.

H&R Block Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.375 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.60%. H&R Block's payout ratio is 36.76%.

Insider Activity at H&R Block

In related news, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 53,810 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.28, for a total transaction of $3,405,096.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 844,790 shares in the company, valued at $53,458,311.20. This represents a 5.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.