Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Lowers Stake in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC reduced its position in shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB - Free Report) by 6.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 85,816 shares of the company's stock after selling 5,833 shares during the quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC owned 0.06% of H&R Block worth $4,535,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Boston Partners grew its holdings in H&R Block by 58.5% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,500,552 shares of the company's stock valued at $237,814,000 after purchasing an additional 1,660,319 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of H&R Block during the fourth quarter worth about $57,253,000. Boston Trust Walden Corp acquired a new position in shares of H&R Block during the 4th quarter worth about $25,552,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in H&R Block by 21.1% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,735,189 shares of the company's stock valued at $144,527,000 after buying an additional 476,892 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in H&R Block by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,219,462 shares of the company's stock worth $275,796,000 after buying an additional 282,633 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.14% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on HRB shares. StockNews.com cut H&R Block from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Barrington Research restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of H&R Block in a report on Wednesday, February 5th.

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H&R Block Price Performance

HRB stock traded down $1.27 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $55.64. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,133,874 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,304,669. The stock has a market cap of $7.45 billion, a PE ratio of 15.33, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.39. The company's 50 day moving average is $53.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $56.56. H&R Block, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $45.87 and a fifty-two week high of $68.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.46.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported ($1.73) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.59) by ($0.14). H&R Block had a net margin of 14.71% and a negative return on equity of 179.15%. Equities research analysts expect that H&R Block, Inc. will post 5.25 EPS for the current year.

H&R Block Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th were given a dividend of $0.375 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.70%. H&R Block's payout ratio is 41.32%.

About H&R Block

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.