StockNews.com Lowers Acadia Healthcare (NASDAQ:ACHC) to Sell

StockNews.com lowered shares of Acadia Healthcare (NASDAQ:ACHC) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report published on Friday.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Acadia Healthcare from $88.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Stephens raised Acadia Healthcare from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and set a $92.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, January 5th. Barclays dropped their price target on Acadia Healthcare from $100.00 to $91.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a neutral rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Acadia Healthcare in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on Acadia Healthcare from $105.00 to $90.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $88.89.

Acadia Healthcare Price Performance

Shares of Acadia Healthcare stock opened at $66.12 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. Acadia Healthcare has a 52 week low of $64.74 and a 52 week high of $87.77. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $76.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $77.52. The company has a market capitalization of $6.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -472.25, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.31.

Acadia Healthcare (NASDAQ:ACHC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $768.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $779.20 million. Acadia Healthcare had a positive return on equity of 11.49% and a negative net margin of 0.38%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.75 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Acadia Healthcare will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Wade D. Miquelon sold 2,203 shares of Acadia Healthcare stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.39, for a total transaction of $188,114.17. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 46,074 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,934,258.86. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 2.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Acadia Healthcare

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ACHC. Avidity Partners Management LP raised its stake in shares of Acadia Healthcare by 61.8% during the fourth quarter. Avidity Partners Management LP now owns 1,156,692 shares of the company’s stock valued at $89,944,000 after acquiring an additional 441,692 shares in the last quarter. Sea Cliff Partners Management LP purchased a new position in Acadia Healthcare during the 4th quarter worth $26,338,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. bought a new stake in Acadia Healthcare during the 4th quarter valued at $24,157,000. OFI Invest Asset Management lifted its holdings in shares of Acadia Healthcare by 290.5% in the 3rd quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management now owns 331,129 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,990,000 after buying an additional 246,322 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in shares of Acadia Healthcare by 26.1% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,148,755 shares of the company’s stock worth $89,327,000 after buying an additional 238,114 shares in the last quarter.

About Acadia Healthcare

Acadia Healthcare Company, Inc provides behavioral healthcare services in the United States and Puerto Rico. The company develops and operates acute inpatient psychiatric facilities, specialty treatment facilities comprising residential recovery facilities and eating disorder facilities, comprehensive treatment centers, and residential treatment centers, as well as facilities offering outpatient behavioral healthcare services for the behavioral healthcare and recovery needs of communities.