State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Sells 5,928 Shares of H&R Block, Inc. $HRB

Key Points

• The State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D reduced its stake in H&R Block, Inc. by 11.7%, selling 5,928 shares and holding a total of 44,945 shares valued at approximately $2.468 million.
• H&R Block recently reported a quarterly earnings miss with earnings per share of $2.27, falling short of analysts' expectations by $0.54, and revenue of $1.11 billion, exceeding forecasts.
• H&R Block announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.42, representing an annualized payout of $1.68 with a yield of 3.3%, set to be paid on October 6th to investors of record as of September 4th.

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D decreased its position in shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB - Free Report) by 11.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 44,945 shares of the company's stock after selling 5,928 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D's holdings in H&R Block were worth $2,468,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of HRB. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its position in H&R Block by 36.8% during the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,585,026 shares of the company's stock valued at $136,591,000 after acquiring an additional 695,581 shares during the last quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY bought a new position in H&R Block during the first quarter valued at $30,429,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in 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 during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its position in H&R Block by 52.2% during the first quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 735,757 shares of the company's stock valued at $40,400,000 after acquiring an additional 252,185 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management boosted its stake in shares of H&R Block by 14.3% during the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,667,652 shares of the company's stock valued at $91,571,000 after purchasing an additional 209,019 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.14% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HRB has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barrington Research lowered their target price on shares of H&R Block from $70.00 to $62.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Zacks Research lowered shares of H&R Block from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered 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 note on Wednesday, August 13th. Northcoast Research lowered shares of H&R Block from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of H&R Block from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $55.00.

H&R Block Stock Down 0.2%

NYSE:HRB opened at $51.3140 on Friday. H&R Block, Inc. has a 1-year low of $47.00 and a 1-year high of $65.08. The company has a 50-day moving average of $54.59 and a 200 day moving average of $55.57. The firm has a market cap of $6.87 billion, a PE ratio of 11.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.86, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 12th. The company reported $2.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.81 by ($0.54). H&R Block had a negative return on equity of 191.38% and a net margin of 16.11%.The business had revenue of $1.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.07 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.89 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. H&R Block has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.850-5.000 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that H&R Block, Inc. will post 5.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

H&R Block Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 4th will be paid a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. This is a boost from H&R Block's previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 4th. H&R Block's payout ratio is currently 33.56%.

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.

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