Surgery Partners (NASDAQ:SGRY) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Should You Buy?

Surgery Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:SGRY) saw unusually-strong trading volume on Tuesday. Approximately 2,536,213 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 26% from the average daily volume of 2,019,249 shares. The stock last traded at $23.2150 and had previously closed at $23.25.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $19.00 price target on shares of Surgery Partners in a report on Friday, September 18th. Stonex Financia downgraded Surgery Partners from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group downgraded Surgery Partners from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $21.00 to $23.50 in a research note on Wednesday. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded Surgery Partners from an “overweight” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $23.50 price objective on shares of Surgery Partners in a research note on Monday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.14.

Surgery Partners Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $3.04 billion, a P/E ratio of -33.20, a P/E/G ratio of 4.87 and a beta of 1.90. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $14.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $14.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18.

Surgery Partners (NASDAQ:SGRY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 10th. The company reported $0.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.06 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $848.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $830.03 million. Surgery Partners had a negative net margin of 2.63% and a positive return on equity of 0.88%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.17 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Surgery Partners, Inc. will post 0.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Surgery Partners

In other news, Director Teresa DeLuca acquired 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $14.35 per share, with a total value of $143,500.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 66,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $959,197.05. This trade represents a 17.59% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 2.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Surgery Partners

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in SGRY. Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Surgery Partners in the 2nd quarter valued at about $233,220,000. Pentwater Capital Management LP bought a new position in Surgery Partners in the 2nd quarter worth about $195,384,000. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Surgery Partners during the 2nd quarter valued at $104,857,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Surgery Partners by 7.9% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,296,411 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,131,000 after buying an additional 389,831 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new stake in shares of Surgery Partners during the 2nd quarter valued at about $48,912,000.

About Surgery Partners

Surgery Partners, Inc is a U.S.-based healthcare services company that operates and manages ambulatory surgery centers and surgical hospitals. The company works with physicians, health systems and other healthcare providers to deliver outpatient surgical care in facilities designed for same-day procedures.

Its facilities provide surgical services across specialties such as orthopedics, pain management, ophthalmology, gastroenterology, urology, gynecology and general surgery. Surgery Partners also supports its operations with clinical, administrative and revenue-cycle services intended to help physicians and facility partners manage patient care and practice operations.

Founded in 2004 and headquartered in Brentwood, Tennessee, Surgery Partners has expanded its platform through acquisitions, joint ventures and other partnerships.