Hancock Whitney Corp Invests $995,000 in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

Hancock Whitney Corp bought a new stake in shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 15,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $995,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of H&R Block by 52.2% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,738,190 shares of the company’s stock worth $148,492,000 after purchasing an additional 939,270 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its holdings in shares of H&R Block by 30.2% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,270,919 shares of the company’s stock valued at $160,614,000 after acquiring an additional 758,827 shares in the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its holdings in shares of H&R Block by 1,630.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 777,264 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,395,000 after purchasing an additional 732,359 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in H&R Block by 39.7% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,131,451 shares of the company’s stock valued at $115,418,000 after purchasing an additional 606,250 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of H&R Block by 576.5% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 580,227 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,496,000 after buying an additional 494,457 shares in the last quarter. 90.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on HRB. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of H&R Block in a research report on Friday, November 8th. StockNews.com lowered H&R Block from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of H&R Block from $39.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th.

H&R Block Stock Up 0.1 %

H&R Block stock opened at $59.62 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.46. H&R Block, Inc. has a 1-year low of $42.28 and a 1-year high of $68.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.54, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.67. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $61.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $57.89.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported ($1.17) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.13) by ($0.04). H&R Block had a net margin of 16.19% and a negative return on equity of 212.45%. The firm had revenue of $193.81 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $188.78 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($1.05) EPS. On average, analysts predict that H&R Block, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

H&R Block Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.52%. H&R Block’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.59%.

H&R Block declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, August 15th that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 16.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at H&R Block

In other H&R Block news, VP Kellie J. Logerwell sold 8,000 shares of H&R Block stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total transaction of $515,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,474 shares in the company, valued at $1,189,910.34. The trade was a 30.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 9,722 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.07, for a total transaction of $613,166.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 893,169 shares in the company, valued at $56,332,168.83. The trade was a 1.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

About H&R Block

H&R Block, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides assisted income tax return preparation and do-it-yourself (DIY) tax return preparation services and products to the general public primarily in the United States, Canada, and Australia. It offers assisted income tax return preparation and related services through a system of retail offices operated directly by the company or its franchisees.