H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.32

H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, May 7th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 5th will be paid a dividend of 0.32 per share on Wednesday, July 3rd. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.60%.

H&R Block has increased its dividend by an average of 5.5% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 3 years. H&R Block has a dividend payout ratio of 27.5% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect H&R Block to earn $4.69 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.28 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 27.3%.

H&R Block Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of HRB traded up $0.55 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $49.31. The company had a trading volume of 1,603,545 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,060,273. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $47.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $46.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.43, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.69. H&R Block has a 52-week low of $28.83 and a 52-week high of $52.90.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported ($1.27) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.58) by $0.31. The business had revenue of $179.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $169.45 million. H&R Block had a net margin of 16.98% and a negative return on equity of 227.22%. The business’s revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($1.37) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that H&R Block will post 4.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 85,921 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.21, for a total transaction of $4,228,172.41. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 755,359 shares in the company, valued at $37,171,216.39. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on HRB shares. StockNews.com raised H&R Block from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on H&R Block from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of H&R Block in a report on Wednesday, May 1st.

About H&R Block

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.