Zacks Still Negative on Block

The Zacks Equity Research Analyst Blog for May 29 said the rating company is not yet ready to upgrade its sell rating on H&R Block, Kansas City, Mo., despite the fact that the pending sale of a mortgage affiliate is positive in the long term.The firm views the pending sale of Option One Mortgage Corp., an Irvine, Calif.-based nonprime lender, as "a long-term positive." But it added that "the ultimate terms of the deal are still unknown. In the near-term, we expect that [Block's] stock should continue to trade near the lower half of its historical multiple range, and we do not believe that significant price appreciation is warranted at this time." Zacks can be found on the Web at http://www.zacks.com.