U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. (NYSE:USPH) Given Average Recommendation of “Buy” by Brokerages

U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. (NYSE:USPH) has been given an average recommendation of “Buy” by the six analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, four have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $109.00.

Several research firms recently commented on USPH. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy from $120.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of U.S. Physical Therapy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Barrington Research dropped their price target on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy from $108.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Bank of America raised U.S. Physical Therapy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $100.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, JMP Securities assumed coverage on U.S. Physical Therapy in a report on Monday, December 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $113.00 price objective for the company.

U.S. Physical Therapy Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:USPH opened at $72.82 on Friday. U.S. Physical Therapy has a 12-month low of $72.15 and a 12-month high of $113.63. The business has a 50 day moving average of $83.58 and a 200-day moving average of $86.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.78, a current ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock has a market cap of $1.11 billion, a PE ratio of 77.47, a P/E/G ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 1.51.

U.S. Physical Therapy (NYSE:USPH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.69 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $180.45 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $173.10 million. U.S. Physical Therapy had a net margin of 3.54% and a return on equity of 8.11%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that U.S. Physical Therapy will post 2.67 earnings per share for the current year.

U.S. Physical Therapy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from U.S. Physical Therapy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.47%. U.S. Physical Therapy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 97.83%.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Graham D. Reeve sold 1,730 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.11, for a total value of $142,050.30. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,168 shares in the company, valued at approximately $588,564.48. This trade represents a 19.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of U.S. Physical Therapy

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in U.S. Physical Therapy by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,084,197 shares of the company’s stock valued at $96,179,000 after purchasing an additional 6,393 shares during the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 839,356 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,459,000 after buying an additional 72,715 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 17.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 667,868 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,522,000 after acquiring an additional 99,244 shares during the last quarter. Southernsun Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Southernsun Asset Management LLC now owns 571,809 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,725,000 after acquiring an additional 24,698 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in U.S. Physical Therapy by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 426,298 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,818,000 after acquiring an additional 7,890 shares during the last quarter.

U.S. Physical Therapy Company Profile

U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc operates outpatient physical therapy clinics. The company operates through Physical Therapy Operations and Industrial Injury Prevention Services segments. The company provides pre-and post-operative care and treatment for orthopedic-related disorders, sports-related injuries, preventative care, rehabilitation of injured workers, and neurological-related injuries.