U.S. Physical Therapy (NYSE:USPH) Shares Pass Above 200 Day Moving Average of $95.00

U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. (NYSE:USPH)’s share price crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $95.00 and traded as high as $98.38. U.S. Physical Therapy shares last traded at $97.60, with a volume of 60,739 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

USPH has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barrington Research increased their price target on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy from $120.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of U.S. Physical Therapy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy from $99.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $125.67.

U.S. Physical Therapy Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $1.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 72.30, a PEG ratio of 4.71 and a beta of 1.39. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $104.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $95.00. The company has a current ratio of 2.28, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

U.S. Physical Therapy (NYSE:USPH) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.02. U.S. Physical Therapy had a net margin of 4.67% and a return on equity of 8.52%. The business had revenue of $154.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $150.24 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.58 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. will post 2.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Physical Therapy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 12th were issued a $0.44 dividend. This is a positive change from U.S. Physical Therapy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 11th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.80%. U.S. Physical Therapy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 130.37%.

Insider Activity at U.S. Physical Therapy

In other news, CFO Carey P. Hendrickson sold 1,800 shares of U.S. Physical Therapy stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.28, for a total transaction of $193,104.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 21,186 shares in the company, valued at $2,272,834.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Edward L. Kuntz sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.26, for a total transaction of $260,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 5,780 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $602,622.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Carey P. Hendrickson sold 1,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.28, for a total transaction of $193,104.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 21,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,272,834.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 10,829 shares of company stock worth $1,141,535. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On U.S. Physical Therapy

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in USPH. Northwest Bank & Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy during the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 308.0% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 408 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 754.7% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 453 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy during the third quarter valued at about $82,000. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors raised its stake in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 348.9% during the first quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 844 shares of the company’s stock valued at $84,000 after purchasing an additional 656 shares in the last quarter.

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.