Is it a Wise Move to Buy HRB Shares?

Miller Value Partners, an investment management firm, published its “Income Strategy” first quarter 2022 investor letter – a copy of which can be downloaded here. The Miller Income Strategy returned -10.08% for the first quarter, while the unmanaged high-yield benchmark was down -4.51%. Most asset classes declined, and smaller companies, which make up a large share of the Income Strategy, generally fared the worst. This is apparent in the Russell 2000’s -7.5% drop against the larger-cap Russell 1000’s -5.1% decline. Try to spend some time taking a look at the fund’s top 5 holdings to be informed about their best picks for 2022.

In its Q1 2022 investor letter, Miller Value Partners Income Strategy mentioned H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) and explained its insights for the company. Founded in 1955, H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) is a Kansas City, Missouri-based tax preparation company with a $4.6 billion market capitalization. H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB)  delivered a 20.59% return since the beginning of the year, while its 12-month returns are up by 21.83%. The stock closed at $23.77 per share on May 10, 2022.

Here is what Miller Value Partners Income Strategy has to say about H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) in its Q1 2022 investor letter:

“H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) advanced 11.8% during the quarter. H&R Block reported 2Q22 revenue of $158.8 million, +11.9% Y/Y, and ahead of consensus of $152.8 million, and an adjusted quarterly loss of $1.02 per share, compared to consensus expectations for a loss of $1.24 per share. The company repurchased $159 million of shares in Q2, bringing the first half of the fiscal year’s total share repurchases to $325 million, representing ~7.3% of the company’s market cap, while also declaring a quarterly dividend of $0.27/share, implying an annualized yield of 4.0%. The company benefited from Emerald Card revenues increasing $14.9 million during the quarter, or 149.2% Y/Y, and has positioned itself for a strong second half of the fiscal year with the launch of its new mobile banking platform, Spruce, alongside the imminent tax season.

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Our calculations show that H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) fell short and didn’t make it on our list of the 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) was in 29 hedge fund portfolios at the end of the fourth quarter of 2021, compared to 25 funds in the previous quarter. H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) delivered a 14.79% return in the past 3 months.

In February 2022, we published an article that includes H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) in 10 Best Dividend Stocks According to Bill Miller’s Miller Value Partners. You can find other investor letters from hedge funds and prominent investors on our hedge fund investor letters 2022 Q1 page.

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.