U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. (NYSE:USPH) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.45

U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. (NYSE:USPH) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, May 8th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be given a dividend of 0.45 per share on Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd.

U.S. Physical Therapy has increased its dividend by an average of 6.4% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 6 consecutive years. U.S. Physical Therapy has a dividend payout ratio of 61.0% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect U.S. Physical Therapy to earn $2.93 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.80 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 61.4%.

U.S. Physical Therapy Price Performance

U.S. Physical Therapy stock opened at $79.33 on Wednesday. U.S. Physical Therapy has a 12 month low of $62.77 and a 12 month high of $106.06. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $71.94 and its 200-day moving average is $83.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a market capitalization of $1.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 84.39, a PEG ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 1.44.

U.S. Physical Therapy (NYSE:USPH) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.02. U.S. Physical Therapy had a return on equity of 8.11% and a net margin of 3.54%. The company had revenue of $183.79 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $176.78 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.51 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that U.S. Physical Therapy will post 2.67 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at U.S. Physical Therapy

In other U.S. Physical Therapy news, COO Graham D. Reeve sold 1,730 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.11, for a total transaction of $142,050.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,168 shares in the company, valued at $588,564.48. This represents a 19.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On U.S. Physical Therapy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in USPH. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in U.S. Physical Therapy by 3.4% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 79,238 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,733,000 after purchasing an additional 2,594 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in U.S. Physical Therapy by 4.6% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 8,897 shares of the company’s stock worth $644,000 after purchasing an additional 391 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC lifted its stake in U.S. Physical Therapy by 249.3% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 49,309 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,568,000 after purchasing an additional 35,191 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on USPH. StockNews.com raised U.S. Physical Therapy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $113.00 price target on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut 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 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. Finally, Barrington Research cut their price target on U.S. Physical Therapy from $108.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $109.00.

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.