Norges Bank Purchases Shares of 1,083,509 H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 1,083,509 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $57,253,000. Norges Bank owned approximately 0.79% of H&R Block at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co bought a new position in H&R Block during the fourth quarter worth about $677,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp boosted its stake in shares of H&R Block by 20.4% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 129,595 shares of the company's stock worth $6,848,000 after acquiring an additional 21,934 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of H&R Block by 28.1% during the 4th quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 46,567 shares of the company's stock worth $2,461,000 after acquiring an additional 10,210 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of H&R Block by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,253,276 shares of the company's stock worth $753,143,000 after acquiring an additional 35,945 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stevens Capital Management LP bought a new stake in H&R Block in the 4th quarter valued at $214,000. 90.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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H&R Block Stock Performance

NYSE HRB traded up $0.10 on Tuesday, reaching $54.76. The stock had a trading volume of 1,675,356 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,309,183. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.46, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The company has a market cap of $7.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.39. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $53.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $56.42. H&R Block, Inc. has a 1-year low of $45.87 and a 1-year high of $68.45.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported ($1.73) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that H&R Block, Inc. will post 5.25 EPS for the current year.

H&R Block Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th were paid a dividend of $0.375 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.74%. H&R Block's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.32%.

H&R Block 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.