Argyle Capital Management Inc. Has $1.32 Million Stock Position in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

Argyle Capital Management Inc. decreased its position in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) by 29.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,300 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,200 shares during the period. Argyle Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in H&R Block were worth $1,321,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in HRB. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in H&R Block by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,844,387 shares of the company’s stock valued at $165,539,000 after acquiring an additional 118,329 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in H&R Block by 110.5% in the 3rd quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,768,425 shares of the company’s stock valued at $119,208,000 after acquiring an additional 1,453,504 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in H&R Block by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,574,162 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,142,000 after acquiring an additional 14,268 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC lifted its position in H&R Block by 12.5% in the 4th quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 1,133,994 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,851,000 after acquiring an additional 126,248 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in H&R Block by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 954,038 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,105,000 after acquiring an additional 65,478 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

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 value of $4,228,172.41. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 755,359 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,171,216.39. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on HRB. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of H&R Block from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. StockNews.com raised shares of H&R Block from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 7th.

H&R Block Price Performance

NYSE:HRB traded down $0.14 on Friday, hitting $46.50. 1,384,554 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 810,499. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $47.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $46.44. H&R Block, Inc. has a 52 week low of $28.83 and a 52 week high of $52.90. The company has a market cap of $6.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.70.

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

H&R Block Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 5th were issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 4th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.75%. H&R Block’s payout ratio is 35.26%.

H&R Block Profile

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.