Amedisys (NASDAQ:AMED) Earns Buy Rating from Analysts at StockNews.com

Equities research analysts at StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Amedisys (NASDAQ:AMED) in a research report issued on Wednesday. The firm set a “buy” rating on the health services provider’s stock.

AMED has been the subject of several other reports. TD Cowen upped their price target on Amedisys from $84.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on Amedisys from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 14th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $103.55.

Amedisys Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AMED opened at $92.33 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. Amedisys has a 52-week low of $69.36 and a 52-week high of $106.01. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $92.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $89.18. The company has a market capitalization of $3.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 1,319.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.96.

Amedisys (NASDAQ:AMED) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 24th. The health services provider reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $556.24 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $560.23 million. Amedisys had a net margin of 0.12% and a return on equity of 13.45%. The firm’s revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.15 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Amedisys will post 4.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Amedisys

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Alpine Associates Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Amedisys in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $64,483,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Amedisys by 67.7% during the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 956,780 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $164,844,000 after purchasing an additional 386,411 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in shares of Amedisys by 222.6% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 478,081 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $39,939,000 after purchasing an additional 329,891 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its position in shares of Amedisys by 708.8% during the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 357,349 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $32,676,000 after purchasing an additional 313,169 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Amedisys during the 4th quarter valued at $26,014,000. 95.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Amedisys Company Profile

Amedisys, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides healthcare services in the United States. It operates through four segments: Home Health, Hospice, Personal Care, and High Acuity Care. The Home Health segment offers a range of services in the homes of individuals for the recovery of patients from surgery, chronic disability, or terminal illness, as well as prevents avoidable hospital readmissions through its skilled nurses; nursing services, rehabilitation therapists specialized in physical, speech, and occupational therapy; and social workers and aides for assisting its patients.