Royal Bank of Canada Cuts Stock Holdings in H&R Block, Inc. $HRB

Royal Bank of Canada reduced its position in H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) by 20.4% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 428,112 shares of the company’s stock after selling 109,382 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada’s holdings in H&R Block were worth $13,588,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UBS Group AG increased its holdings in H&R Block by 19.2% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 934,917 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,744,000 after buying an additional 150,719 shares in the last quarter. Ceera Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of H&R Block by 299.1% during the 1st quarter. Ceera Investments LLC now owns 42,228 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,340,000 after acquiring an additional 31,648 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in shares of H&R Block by 543.1% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 67,038 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,128,000 after acquiring an additional 56,613 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of H&R Block during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,523,000. Finally, M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in shares of H&R Block by 634.2% in the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 254,055 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,072,000 after purchasing an additional 219,450 shares in the last quarter. 90.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

H&R Block Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of H&R Block stock opened at $46.12 on Friday. H&R Block, Inc. has a twelve month low of $28.16 and a twelve month high of $55.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.85 billion, a PE ratio of 8.21, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.34. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $39.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $35.68.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $6.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.77 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $2.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.34 billion. H&R Block had a negative return on equity of 211.62% and a net margin of 18.90%.H&R Block’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.38 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that H&R Block, Inc. will post 5.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HRB has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Stephens assumed coverage on H&R Block in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $47.00 price target for the company. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of H&R Block in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Zacks Research lowered H&R Block from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of H&R Block from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $43.00.

H&R Block Profile

H&R Block (NYSE: HRB) is a leading provider of tax preparation services and software solutions, serving individual and small-business clients through a combination of retail offices, online platforms and mobile applications. The company offers assisted tax preparation at its network of retail offices, where clients work with trained tax professionals, as well as do-it-yourself (DIY) software and online filing services designed to guide users through the complexities of federal and state tax returns.

Founded in 1955 by brothers Henry W.