First Trust Advisors LP Grows Stock Position in H&R Block, Inc. $HRB

First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) by 26.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 938,537 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 197,152 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in H&R Block were worth $47,462,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in shares of H&R Block by 85.4% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 2,191 shares of the company’s stock worth $119,000 after acquiring an additional 1,009 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in H&R Block by 3.6% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 11,423 shares of the company’s stock worth $627,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 112,127 shares during the period. Aviva PLC purchased a new position in H&R Block during the second quarter worth approximately $512,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of H&R Block in the 2nd quarter valued at $889,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.14% of the company’s stock.

H&R Block Trading Up 1.3%

NYSE HRB opened at $30.46 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.03, a PEG ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.86, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. H&R Block, Inc. has a one year low of $28.16 and a one year high of $64.62. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $36.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $43.72.

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

H&R Block Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 6th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 4th. H&R Block’s dividend payout ratio is 38.80%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of H&R Block from $48.00 to $32.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Weiss Ratings raised H&R Block from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Barrington Research reduced their target price on H&R Block from $62.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, H&R Block currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $41.00.

H&R Block 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.