H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) Given Average Rating of “Reduce” by Analysts

Shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) have been given an average recommendation of “Reduce” by the five analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have given a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $41.00.

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barrington Research dropped their price objective on H&R Block from $62.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of H&R Block from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of H&R Block from $48.00 to $32.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 6th.

Insider Transactions at H&R Block

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HRB. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new position in shares of H&R Block in the second quarter valued at $1,004,000. Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its position in H&R Block by 31.1% in the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 99,666 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,948,000 after acquiring an additional 23,624 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in H&R Block by 64.8% during the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 4,979 shares of the company’s stock valued at $273,000 after purchasing an additional 1,957 shares during the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in H&R Block by 32.5% during the 3rd quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 411,450 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,807,000 after purchasing an additional 101,025 shares during the last quarter. Finally, VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new stake in H&R Block during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,130,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.14% of the company’s stock.

H&R Block Stock Down 8.7%

HRB stock opened at $29.80 on Thursday. H&R Block has a 52 week low of $29.76 and a 52 week high of $64.62. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $41.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $46.84. 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 company has a market cap of $3.78 billion, a PE ratio of 6.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 0.36.

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

H&R Block Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 6th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.6%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 4th. H&R Block’s payout ratio is 38.80%.

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.