Surgery Partners (NASDAQ:SGRY) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

Surgery Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:SGRY) gapped up prior to trading on Monday. The stock had previously closed at $15.75, but opened at $19.47. Surgery Partners shares last traded at $22.9950, with a volume of 114,561 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Surgery Partners in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Surgery Partners from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 14th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Surgery Partners in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Raymond James Financial set a $18.00 price objective on shares of Surgery Partners in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Surgery Partners from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $19.00.

Surgery Partners Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $3.02 billion, a PE ratio of -32.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.87 and a beta of 1.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.78. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $14.21 and a 200-day moving average price of $14.57.

Surgery Partners (NASDAQ:SGRY) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 10th. The company reported $0.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.06 by $0.04. Surgery Partners had a positive return on equity of 0.88% and a negative net margin of 2.63%. The company had revenue of $848.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $830.03 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.17 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Surgery Partners, Inc. will post 0.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Surgery Partners news, Director Teresa DeLuca purchased 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were bought at an average price of $14.35 per share, with a total value of $143,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 66,843 shares in the company, valued at $959,197.05. This trade represents a 17.59% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Surgery Partners by 239.6% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,907 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 2,051 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in Surgery Partners in the 2nd quarter valued at $38,000. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in Surgery Partners by 5,324.0% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 4,068 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 3,993 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in Surgery Partners in the 2nd quarter worth $216,000. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new position in Surgery Partners in the 1st quarter worth $235,000.

Surgery Partners Company Profile

Surgery Partners, Inc is a U.S.-based healthcare services company that operates and manages ambulatory surgery centers and surgical hospitals. The company works with physicians, health systems and other healthcare providers to deliver outpatient surgical care in facilities designed for same-day procedures.

Its facilities provide surgical services across specialties such as orthopedics, pain management, ophthalmology, gastroenterology, urology, gynecology and general surgery. Surgery Partners also supports its operations with clinical, administrative and revenue-cycle services intended to help physicians and facility partners manage patient care and practice operations.

Founded in 2004 and headquartered in Brentwood, Tennessee, Surgery Partners has expanded its platform through acquisitions, joint ventures and other partnerships.