Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $20.56 Million Position in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its stake in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) by 30.4% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 323,552 shares of the company’s stock after selling 141,382 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in H&R Block were worth $20,562,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in HRB. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in H&R Block by 5.5% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,936,829 shares of the company’s stock valued at $313,735,000 after acquiring an additional 255,354 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of H&R Block by 52.2% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,738,190 shares of the company’s stock valued at $148,492,000 after purchasing an additional 939,270 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of H&R Block by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,484,417 shares of the company’s stock valued at $134,726,000 after purchasing an additional 23,792 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of H&R Block by 39.7% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,131,451 shares of the company’s stock worth $115,418,000 after buying an additional 606,250 shares during the period. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its stake in H&R Block by 1,630.9% during the third quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 777,264 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,395,000 after buying an additional 732,359 shares during the last quarter. 90.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

H&R Block Price Performance

Shares of HRB opened at $54.29 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $7.44 billion, a PE ratio of 13.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.66. H&R Block, Inc. has a 52-week low of $42.28 and a 52-week high of $68.45. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $58.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $58.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.46, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported ($1.17) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.13) by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $193.81 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $188.78 million. H&R Block had a net margin of 16.19% and a negative return on equity of 212.45%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($1.05) EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that H&R Block, Inc. will post 5.27 EPS for the current year.

H&R Block Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be given a dividend of $0.375 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.76%. H&R Block’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.59%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of H&R Block in a research report on Friday, November 8th.

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.