Encompass Health Co. Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.15 (NYSE:EHC)

Encompass Health Co. (NYSE:EHC) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, May 2nd, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 1st will be given a dividend of 0.15 per share on Monday, July 15th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 1st.

Encompass Health has decreased its dividend by an average of 18.8% annually over the last three years. Encompass Health has a dividend payout ratio of 13.1% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Encompass Health to earn $4.55 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 13.2%.

Encompass Health Stock Down 0.3 %

EHC opened at $83.21 on Friday. Encompass Health has a fifty-two week low of $57.55 and a fifty-two week high of $85.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.28. The company’s 50-day moving average is $78.99 and its 200 day moving average is $71.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.49, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.92.

Encompass Health (NYSE:EHC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The company reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.27 billion. Encompass Health had a net margin of 7.60% and a return on equity of 18.01%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.88 EPS. Research analysts expect that Encompass Health will post 4.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Encompass Health news, CEO Mark J. Tarr sold 44,976 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.27, for a total transaction of $3,745,151.52. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 554,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,139,740.46. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on EHC shares. Mizuho raised their target price on Encompass Health from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Encompass Health in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $95.00 target price (up from $85.00) on shares of Encompass Health in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Encompass Health from $82.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Finally, William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Encompass Health in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $90.29.

Encompass Health Company Profile

Encompass Health Corporation provides post-acute healthcare services in the United States and Puerto Rico. It owns and operates inpatient rehabilitation hospitals that provide medical, nursing, therapy, and ancillary services. The company provides specialized rehabilitative treatment on an inpatient basis to patients who have experienced physical or cognitive disabilities or injuries due to medical conditions, such as strokes, hip fractures, and various debilitating neurological conditions.