Mackenzie Financial Corp Purchases 38,017 Shares of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB - Free Report) by 30.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 161,355 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 38,017 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp owned about 0.12% of H&R Block worth $8,750,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Mather Group LLC. bought a new position in shares of H&R Block in the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of H&R Block during the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of H&R Block by 4,152.9% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 723 shares of the company's stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 706 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of H&R Block by 2,756.0% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 714 shares of the company's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 689 shares during the period. Finally, TFO Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of H&R Block by 42,333.3% in the fourth quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,273 shares of the company's stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 1,270 shares during the last quarter. 90.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HRB has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on H&R Block from $39.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Barrington Research reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of H&R Block in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of H&R Block from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, August 16th.

H&R Block Stock Down 0.7 %

HRB traded down $0.47 on Tuesday, hitting $63.08. The company had a trading volume of 996,331 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,167,032. H&R Block, Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.20 and a 52-week high of $68.45. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $61.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $54.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.46, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.43, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.66.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The company reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company 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 firm earned $2.05 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that H&R Block, Inc. will post 5.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

H&R Block Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 5th will be issued a $0.375 dividend. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.38%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 5th. This is a boost from H&R Block's previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. H&R Block's dividend payout ratio is 34.32%.

H&R Block announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, August 15th that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 16.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at H&R Block

In other news, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 9,722 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.07, for a total value of $613,166.54. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 893,169 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $56,332,168.83. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other H&R Block news, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 9,722 shares of H&R Block stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.07, for a total transaction of $613,166.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 893,169 shares in the company, valued at $56,332,168.83. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Tony G. Bowen sold 79,259 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.17, for a total value of $5,165,309.03. Following the completion of the sale, 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 sold 115,927 shares of company stock valued at $7,517,056. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

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.