U.S. Physical Therapy (NYSE:USPH) Cut to Sell at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of U.S. Physical Therapy (NYSE:USPH) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note released on Friday morning.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on USPH. William Blair restated a “market perform” rating on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy in a report on Thursday. Citizens Jmp raised U.S. Physical Therapy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. 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 target price on the stock. Bank of America upgraded U.S. Physical Therapy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $100.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Barrington Research lowered their target price on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy from $108.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $111.50.

U.S. Physical Therapy Trading Down 1.6 %

NYSE:USPH opened at $81.08 on Friday. U.S. Physical Therapy has a 1 year low of $76.18 and a 1 year high of $113.63. The stock has a market cap of $1.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 86.26, a PEG ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 1.48. The business has a fifty day moving average of $88.20 and a 200-day moving average of $87.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a current ratio of 1.78.

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

U.S. Physical Therapy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.22%. U.S. Physical Therapy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 95.65%.

Insider Activity at U.S. Physical Therapy

In other U.S. Physical Therapy news, CFO Carey P. Hendrickson sold 516 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.25, for a total transaction of $49,665.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 20,469 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,970,141.25. This represents a 2.46 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of U.S. Physical Therapy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in USPH. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in U.S. Physical Therapy by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 4,833 shares of the company’s stock worth $429,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in U.S. Physical Therapy by 59.8% in the fourth quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 122 shares during the period. Albert D Mason Inc. boosted its position in U.S. Physical Therapy by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Albert D Mason Inc. now owns 10,596 shares of the company’s stock worth $940,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in U.S. Physical Therapy by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 16,344 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,450,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aquatic Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in U.S. Physical Therapy by 18.0% in the 4th quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC now owns 1,298 shares of the company’s stock valued at $115,000 after buying an additional 198 shares in 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.