Barrington Research Reaffirms “Outperform” Rating for H&R Block (NYSE:HRB)

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating restated by investment analysts at Barrington Research in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $55.00 target price on the stock. Barrington Research’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 15.74% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of H&R Block from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. StockNews.com raised H&R Block from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 7th.

H&R Block Price Performance

HRB traded down $0.51 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $47.52. 668,456 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,055,331. The company has a market cap of $6.63 billion, a PE ratio of 13.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.69. H&R Block has a one year low of $28.83 and a one year high of $52.90. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $47.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $46.52.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported ($1.27) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.58) by $0.31. The company had revenue of $179.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $169.45 million. H&R Block had a negative return on equity of 227.22% and a net margin of 16.98%. The business’s revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned ($1.37) earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that H&R Block will post 4.25 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at H&R Block

In other news, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 85,921 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.21, for a total transaction of $4,228,172.41. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 755,359 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,171,216.39. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On H&R Block

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HRB. GSA Capital Partners LLP lifted its position in shares of H&R Block by 124.3% in the 1st quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 22,524 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,106,000 after acquiring an additional 12,481 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in H&R Block by 500.0% in the first quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 6,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $295,000 after purchasing an additional 5,000 shares during the period. Choreo LLC boosted its stake in H&R Block by 8.3% during the first quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 8,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $422,000 after buying an additional 656 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of H&R Block by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 817,621 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,153,000 after buying an additional 35,333 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of H&R Block by 152.9% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 58,810 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,808,000 after acquiring an additional 35,552 shares during the period. 90.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.