The Goldman Sachs Group Cuts H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) Price Target to $48.00

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) had its price objective trimmed by The Goldman Sachs Group from $54.00 to $48.00 in a research note released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a sell rating on the stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded H&R Block from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Northcoast Research lowered shares of H&R Block from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of H&R Block in a report on Friday, April 25th.

H&R Block Stock Performance

Shares of HRB stock opened at $50.15 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 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. The business has a fifty day moving average of $54.94 and a 200 day moving average of $55.68. H&R Block has a 1 year low of $47.00 and a 1 year high of $68.45.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 12th. The company reported $2.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by ($0.54). The firm had revenue of $1.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.07 billion. H&R Block had a negative return on equity of 191.38% and a net margin of 16.11%. The business’s revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.89 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that H&R Block will post 5.25 earnings per share for the current year.

H&R Block Increases Dividend

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On H&R Block

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HRB. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its stake in shares of H&R Block by 28.1% during the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 5,140 shares of the company’s stock worth $282,000 after acquiring an additional 1,127 shares in the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of H&R Block by 15.9% during the 2nd quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 23,337 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,281,000 after acquiring an additional 3,198 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of H&R Block by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 15,721 shares of the company’s stock worth $863,000 after acquiring an additional 621 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of H&R Block by 71.9% during the 2nd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,226 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 513 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of H&R Block by 835.9% during the 2nd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 39,915 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,191,000 after acquiring an additional 35,650 shares in the last quarter. 90.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

H&R Block Company 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.