H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) Shares Up 9.2% – Time to Buy?

H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) shares traded up 9.2% on Friday . The company traded as high as $30.61 and last traded at $30.9470. 1,368,065 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 41% from the average session volume of 2,334,634 shares. The stock had previously closed at $28.34.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HRB has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on H&R Block from $48.00 to $32.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 6th. Weiss Ratings downgraded H&R Block from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Barrington Research decreased their price objective on H&R Block from $62.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $41.00.

H&R Block Stock Up 8.9%

The firm has a market cap of $3.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.13, a PEG ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.86. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $40.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $46.71.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported ($1.84) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.96) by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $198.87 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $187.36 million. H&R Block had a negative return on equity of 176.02% and a net margin of 16.19%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($1.73) earnings per share. H&R Block has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.850-5.000 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that H&R Block, Inc. will post 5.25 EPS for the current year.

H&R Block Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 6th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be issued a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.4%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 4th. H&R Block’s payout ratio is presently 38.80%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other H&R Block news, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 128,818 shares of H&R Block stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.54, for a total value of $5,737,553.72. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 861,313 shares in the company, valued at $38,362,881.02. This trade represents a 13.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On H&R Block

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of H&R Block by 15.2% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 848,532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,593,000 after buying an additional 112,127 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of H&R Block by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 17,244 shares of the company’s stock valued at $947,000 after buying an additional 643 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its position in H&R Block by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 15,159 shares of the company’s stock worth $832,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.14% of the company’s stock.

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.