Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Sells 172 Shares of U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. (NYSE:USPH)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans reduced its position in U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. (NYSE:USPH) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,668 shares of the company’s stock after selling 172 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in U.S. Physical Therapy were worth $1,035,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of USPH. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 59.8% during the fourth quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in U.S. Physical Therapy by 3,200.0% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 726 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,000 after buying an additional 704 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in U.S. Physical Therapy during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $113,000. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $203,000. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 57.1% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 2,631 shares of the company’s stock worth $223,000 after buying an additional 956 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

USPH has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barrington Research cut their target price on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy from $108.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. JMP Securities started coverage on U.S. Physical Therapy in a research report on Monday, December 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $113.00 price objective for the company. William Blair reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Bank of America upgraded U.S. Physical Therapy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $100.00 to $115.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, StockNews.com cut U.S. Physical Therapy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $109.00.

Insider Transactions at U.S. Physical Therapy

In other U.S. Physical Therapy news, COO Graham D. Reeve sold 1,730 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.11, for a total value of $142,050.30. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 7,168 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $588,564.48. This represents a 19.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

U.S. Physical Therapy Trading Up 0.2 %

USPH opened at $72.47 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $82.57 and a 200 day moving average of $86.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $69.99 and a 12 month high of $112.52. The firm has a market cap of $1.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 77.10, a P/E/G ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 1.51.

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

U.S. Physical Therapy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.48%. This is an increase from U.S. Physical Therapy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. U.S. Physical Therapy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 97.83%.

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.