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

U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. (NYSE:USPH) has earned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the six research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $109.00.

Several brokerages recently commented on USPH. StockNews.com downgraded shares of U.S. Physical Therapy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. William Blair reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Barrington Research cut their target price on U.S. Physical Therapy from $108.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on U.S. Physical Therapy from $120.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th.

U.S. Physical Therapy Price Performance

USPH stock opened at $66.58 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a current ratio of 1.78. The firm has a market cap of $1.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 70.83, a P/E/G ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 1.38. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $76.06 and its 200 day moving average is $84.71. U.S. Physical Therapy has a 52 week low of $62.77 and a 52 week high of $108.14.

U.S. Physical Therapy (NYSE:USPH) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $180.45 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 predict that U.S. Physical Therapy will post 2.67 earnings per share for the current year.

U.S. Physical Therapy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from U.S. Physical Therapy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.70%. U.S. Physical Therapy’s payout ratio is currently 97.83%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other U.S. Physical Therapy news, COO Graham D. Reeve sold 1,730 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.11, for a total value of $142,050.30. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 7,168 shares in the company, valued at approximately $588,564.48. This represents a 19.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of U.S. Physical Therapy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in USPH. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in U.S. Physical Therapy by 59.8% in the fourth quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in U.S. Physical Therapy in the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its position in U.S. Physical Therapy by 3,200.0% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 726 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 704 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in U.S. Physical Therapy by 34.6% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,030 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in U.S. Physical Therapy in the fourth quarter worth about $84,000.

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.