Kendall Capital Management Buys 11,285 Shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

Kendall Capital Management increased its position in shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB - Free Report) by 36.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 42,290 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 11,285 shares during the period. Kendall Capital Management's holdings in H&R Block were worth $2,293,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HRB. TriaGen Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of H&R Block by 2.4% in the second quarter. TriaGen Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,642 shares of the company's stock valued at $469,000 after acquiring an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in H&R Block by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 5,035 shares of the company's stock valued at $249,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the period. Burney Co. grew its position in shares of H&R Block by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Burney Co. now owns 57,327 shares of the company's stock worth $3,109,000 after purchasing an additional 349 shares in the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of H&R Block by 2.8% during the first quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 18,451 shares of the company's stock worth $906,000 after purchasing an additional 498 shares during the period. Finally, Csenge Advisory Group raised its position in shares of H&R Block by 8.9% in the second quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 6,723 shares of the company's stock valued at $365,000 after buying an additional 550 shares in the last quarter. 90.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at H&R Block

In other H&R Block news, insider Dara S. Redler sold 9,100 shares of H&R Block stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.10, for a total value of $583,310.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 22,066 shares in the company, valued at $1,414,430.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Dara S. Redler sold 9,100 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.10, for a total transaction of $583,310.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 22,066 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,414,430.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Tony G. Bowen sold 79,259 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.17, for a total transaction of $5,165,309.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 90,095 shares in the company, valued at $5,871,491.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 160,902 shares of company stock valued at $9,970,442. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

H&R Block Trading Up 1.4 %

HRB traded up $0.91 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $63.68. 1,317,448 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,158,013. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $59.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $53.34. H&R Block, Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.20 and a 1-year high of $68.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.36, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.46.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The company reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.15. H&R Block had a negative return on equity of 220.05% and a net margin of 16.49%. The business had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.05 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that H&R Block, Inc. will post 5.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

H&R Block declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, August 15th that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 16.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

H&R Block Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, September 5th will be issued a $0.375 dividend. This is a positive change from H&R Block's previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 5th. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.36%. H&R Block's payout ratio is presently 34.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on HRB. Barrington Research reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of H&R Block in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. StockNews.com downgraded H&R Block from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of H&R Block from $39.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th.

H&R Block Company 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.