U.S. Physical Therapy (NYSE:USPH) Upgraded to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of U.S. Physical Therapy (NYSE:USPH) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report published on Thursday.

A number of other analysts have also commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on U.S. Physical Therapy from $120.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. William Blair reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Barrington Research cut their price target on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy from $108.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $113.00 target price on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $109.00.

U.S. Physical Therapy Stock Performance

Shares of U.S. Physical Therapy stock opened at $71.15 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $72.25 and its 200-day moving average is $83.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 1.78. U.S. Physical Therapy has a one year low of $62.77 and a one year high of $108.14. The firm has a market cap of $1.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 75.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 1.44.

U.S. Physical Therapy (NYSE:USPH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.46 by ($0.05). U.S. Physical Therapy had a net margin of 3.54% and a return on equity of 8.11%. The business had revenue of $183.79 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $176.78 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.51 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that U.S. Physical Therapy will post 2.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Physical Therapy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be paid a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.53%. U.S. Physical Therapy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 97.83%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Graham D. Reeve sold 1,730 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.11, for a total value of $142,050.30. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,168 shares in the company, valued at $588,564.48. The trade was a 19.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On U.S. Physical Therapy

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its stake in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 112,959 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,021,000 after purchasing an additional 2,465 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in U.S. Physical Therapy by 37.4% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 4,605 shares of the company’s stock valued at $409,000 after buying an additional 1,254 shares during the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC grew its position in U.S. Physical Therapy by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 839,356 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,459,000 after purchasing an additional 72,715 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in U.S. Physical Therapy in the 4th quarter worth $3,526,000. Finally, Bridge City Capital LLC increased its holdings in U.S. Physical Therapy by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Bridge City Capital LLC now owns 64,947 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,761,000 after buying an additional 4,235 shares during the period.

About U.S. Physical Therapy

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.