Valero (VLO) (DFS) (SCHW) (ESL) (HRB) (FL) (FNSR) EPS Estimates Changed

Valero Energy Co. (NYSE: VLO), Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS), Charles Schwab (NASDAQ: SCHW), Esterline Technologies Co. (NYSE: ESL), H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE: HRB), Foot Locker (NYSE: FL) and Finisar (NASDAQ: FNSR) EPS estimates adjusted by analysts.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) raised its EPS estimates on Valero Energy Co. (VLO). TheY have an “Equal Weight” rating and a price target of $29.00 on the company.

Credit Suisse (NYSE:CS) boosted its EPS estimates on Discover Financial Services (DFS). They have a “Neutral” rating and a price target of $28.00 on the company.

Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) increased its EPS estimates on Charles Schwab (SCHW). They have a “Neutral” rating and a price target of $14.00 on the company.

Credit Suisse lowered its EPS estimates on Esterline Technologies Co. (ESL). They have an “Outperform” rating and a price target of $87.00 on the company.

Oppenheimer cut its EPS estimates on H&R Block, Inc. (HRB). They have a “Market Perform” rating on the company.

UBS AG (NYSE:UBS) raised its EPS estimates on Foot Locker (FL). They have a “Neutral” rating and a price target of $22.00 on the company.

Morgan Stanley raised its EPS estimates on Finisar (FNSR). They have an “Overweight” rating and a price target of $22.00 on the company.

Charles Schwab (SCHW) (FL) (FNSR) (GS) (HRB) (PRSP) Estimates Changed

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW), Foot Locker (NYSE:FL), Finisar (NASDAQ:FNSR), Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS), H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) and Prosperity Bancshares (NASDAQ:PRSP) estimates adjusted by analysts.

Goldman Sachs raised its estimates on Charles Schwab (SCHW) through 2013. They have a "Neutral" rating and a price target of $14 on the company.

UBS (NYSE:UBS) raised its estimates on Foot Locker (FL). They have a "Neutral" rating and price target of $22 on the company.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) boosted its estimates on Finisar (FNSR) through 2014. They have an "Overweight" rating and price target of $22 on the company.

Credit Suisse (NYSE:CS) lowered its estimates on Goldman Sachs (GS) through 2013. They have an "Outperform" rating and price target of $170 on the company.

Oppenheimer cut its estimates on H&R Block (HRB) through 2012. They reiterated a "Perform" rating on the company.

Sterne Agee lowered it estimates on Prosperity Bancshares (PRSP) through 2013. They cited valuation as the catalyst behind the call. They have a "Neutral" rating on the company.

Sina (SINA) (SIX) (FTE) (HRB) (BPO) Upgraded

Sina (NASDAQ: SINA), Six Flags Entertainment Corp (NYSE: SIX), France Telecom SA (NYSE: FTE), H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE: HRB) and Brookfield Properties Co. (NYSE: BPO) upgraded by analysts.

Sina (SINA) was upgraded by ThinkEquity from a “Hold” rating to a “Buy” rating.

Six Flags Entertainment Corp. (SIX) was upgraded by Merriman Curhan Ford from a “Neutral” rating to a “Buy” rating.

France Telecom SA (FTE) was upgraded by Credit Suisse (NYSE:CS) from an “Underperform” rating to a “Neutral” rating.

H&R Block, Inc. (HRB) was upgraded by Standpoint Research from a “Hold” rating to a “Buy” rating. They have a price target of $18.00 on the company.

Brookfield Properties Co. (BPO) was upgraded by Stifel Nicolaus from a “Hold” rating to a “Buy” rating. They have a price target of $20.00 on the company.

Dividend Yields for (LEN) (RL) (HAR) (HRB) (MCD)

Indicated dividend yields for Standard & Poor's 500 Index companies Lennar Corp (LEN), Polo Ralph Lauren Corp (RL), Harman International (HAR), H&R Block Inc (HRB) and McDonald's Corp (MCD).

These dividend data indicate dividend yields of companies in the Standard & Poor's 500 Index as of Saturday, April 30. The yield is determined by taking the latest declared dividend, annualized and divided by the price of the stock. Payout ratios are calculated based on latest quarterly dividend paid divided by earnings.

Lennar Corp (LEN) has a dividend yield of 0.84 percent on a declared dividend of $0.04. The payout ratio is 27.3 percent.

Polo Ralph Lauren Corp (RL) has a dividend yield of 0.61 percent on a declared dividend of $0.20. The payout ratio is 5.7 percent.

Harman International (HAR) has a dividend yield of 0.21 percent on a declared dividend of $0.03. The payout ratio is na.

H&R Block Inc (HRB) has a dividend yield of 3.47 percent on a declared dividend of $0.15. The payout ratio is 7.1 percent.

McDonald's Corp (MCD) has a dividend yield of 3.12 percent on a declared dividend of $0.61. The payout ratio is 53.2 percent.

Acme Packet (APKT) (AMZN) (F) HRB) Get EPS Changes from Analysts

Acme Packet, Inc. (NASDAQ: APKT), Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), Ford (NYSE: F) and H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE: HRB) received changes in EPS estimates from analysts.

UBS AG (NYSE:UBS) cut its EPS estimates on Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN). They have a “Neutral” rating and a price target of $180 on them.

Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) raised its EPS estimate on Acme Packet, Inc. (APKT). They have a “Neutral” rating and a price target of $78 on the firm.

Credit Suisse (NYSE:CS) lowered its EPS estimate on Ford (F). They have a “Neutral” rating and a $1.75 EPS target on the auto maker. They had a previous EPS target of $1.78 on the company.

Goldman Sachs raised its EPS on H&R Block, Inc. (HRB). They have a “Neutral” rating and a price target of $17 on HRB.

H&R Block (HRB), TiVo (TIVO) Attract Option Bulls

Option traders have been bullish on H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) and TiVo (NASDAQ:TIVO), betting the shares will go up in the short term.

With markets taking a breather from oil worries, options traders staged big bullish earnings bets on tax preparer H&R Block and revisited long-running legal disputes over digital video recorders with TiVo.

Bullish H&R Block contracts changed hands at the heaviest pace in three months. In an echo of the optimistic pre-earnings bets that dominated trading early this year, traders had a preference for high-risk March call options that require a big and nearly immediate jump in the stock to show a profit. H&R Block reports earnings Wednesday after the close.

"Whenever you see people buying cheap [call] options with only a few days remaining, it's extremely bullish," said TradeKing senior options analyst Brian Overby.

Tuesday's action focused on March $16 calls to buy H&R Block's stock, contracts that expire a week from Friday. The tax-preparation company's shares were up 55 cents, or 3.8%, at $15.02 at 4 p.m. on the New York Stock Exchange.

TiVo was another draw for bullish traders who, in this case, played the contrarian as more litigation news weighed on the stock.

The company said it plans a convertible debt offering, in part to fund its legal battles, saying Microsoft filed a patent-infringement lawsuit and a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission. The company is already in a lengthy court dispute with rivals Dish Network and EchoStar.

TiVo closed at $8.75, down $0.31, or 3.42 percent. H&R Block closed at $15.02, gaining $0.55, or 3.80 percent.




Source

H&R Block (HRB) Still Targeted by Shorts

While H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) has made a nice move so far in 2011, increasing 17 percent so far in the strongest part of the year, shorts aren't convinced of the long-term ability of the company to sustain growth or past levels as software solutions become the desired way of doing taxes for a growing number of businesses and people.

Goldman Sachs wrote in a note to clients, “HRB is rapidly losing market share in the tax business to software based solutions,” they said, "and the $84B in mortgages HRB originated during ’05-’07 also pose significant mortgage putback risks.”

The 17 percent boost in share price in 2011 is attributed to "an epic short squeeze, according to the Wall Street Journal. "Stock out on loan — a proxy for short interest — for the nation’s biggest tax preparer had surged to recent highs in early February, but in the face of the rising stock price, H&R Block disappeared from the list of short interest highs that we get from Data Explorers each week," the Journal added.

H&R Block was trading at $14.55, down $0.02, or 0.14 percent, as of 12:41 PM EST.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) Loses HSBC (NYSE:HBC) Tax Loan Deal, Jackson Hewitt (NYSE:JTX) Soars

HSBC (NYSE:HBC) has been ordered by bank regulators to stop offering tax refund anticipation loans to H&R Block (NYSE:HRB)customers, which were offered to them based on what their expected tax return would be.

H&R Block CEO Alan Bennett blasted the decision by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which ordered HSBC not to offer the loans.

Bennett said, "As a result of the OCC's decision, millions of taxpayers will be deprived of credit, or they will be forced to use higher-priced alternatives.

"The OCC's 11th hour timing will make it difficult for us to put alternative products in place at all of our locations in time for the early part of the 2011 tax season, but we will spare no effort to do so."

Shares of H&R Block plummeted on the news, falling to $11.77, down $0.92, or 7.25 percent, as of 12:43 PM EST. Shares of competitor Jackson Hewitt (NYSE:JTX), on the other hand, enjoyed a big boost, climbing to $2.37, gaining $0.60, or 33.90 percent.