U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. (NYSE:USPH) Receives Average Recommendation of “Buy” from Analysts

U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. (NYSE:USPH) has been assigned an average rating of “Buy” from the six brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $111.50.

A number of research firms recently issued reports on USPH. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of U.S. Physical Therapy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of U.S. Physical Therapy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Barrington Research decreased their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy from $117.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of U.S. Physical Therapy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $100.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th.

Insider Transactions at U.S. Physical Therapy

In other news, COO Graham D. Reeve sold 1,730 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.11, for a total transaction of $142,050.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 7,168 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $588,564.48. The trade was a 19.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Carey P. Hendrickson sold 516 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.25, for a total transaction of $49,665.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 20,469 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,970,141.25. This represents a 2.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of U.S. Physical Therapy

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of USPH. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in U.S. Physical Therapy by 35.6% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 35,761 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,172,000 after acquiring an additional 9,395 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP purchased a new stake in U.S. Physical Therapy during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,229,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its stake in U.S. Physical Therapy by 33.4% during the 4th quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 10,908 shares of the company’s stock valued at $968,000 after acquiring an additional 2,730 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its stake in U.S. Physical Therapy by 50.0% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 30,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,741,000 after acquiring an additional 10,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Snowden Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in U.S. Physical Therapy by 15.6% during the 4th quarter. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,475 shares of the company’s stock valued at $486,000 after acquiring an additional 740 shares in the last quarter.

U.S. Physical Therapy Trading Down 2.9 %

NYSE USPH opened at $80.61 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.22 billion, a PE ratio of 85.76, a P/E/G ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a fifty day moving average of $87.42 and a 200 day moving average of $87.51. U.S. Physical Therapy has a 1 year low of $76.18 and a 1 year high of $113.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 1.78.

U.S. Physical Therapy (NYSE:USPH) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $180.45 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $173.10 million. U.S. Physical Therapy had a net margin of 3.54% and a return on equity of 8.11%. 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 business 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 dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.23%. This is a boost from U.S. Physical Therapy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. U.S. Physical Therapy’s 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.