Universal Health Services, Inc. Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.20 (NYSE:UHS)

Universal Health Services, Inc. (NYSE:UHS) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, November 20th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be given a dividend of 0.20 per share by the health services provider on Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 3rd.

Universal Health Services has increased its dividend payment by an average of 58.7% per year over the last three years. Universal Health Services has a dividend payout ratio of 4.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Universal Health Services to earn $17.71 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.80 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 4.5%.

Universal Health Services Stock Performance

Shares of UHS opened at $205.00 on Monday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $214.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $207.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. Universal Health Services has a 52 week low of $133.70 and a 52 week high of $243.25. The stock has a market cap of $13.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.63, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.29.

Universal Health Services (NYSE:UHS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The health services provider reported $3.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.75 by ($0.04). Universal Health Services had a return on equity of 15.75% and a net margin of 6.66%. The firm had revenue of $3.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.55 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Universal Health Services will post 15.93 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on UHS shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Universal Health Services from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 9th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Universal Health Services from $275.00 to $251.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Universal Health Services from $222.00 to $211.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 28th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Universal Health Services from $247.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Universal Health Services from $285.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 25th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $225.50.

Universal Health Services Company Profile

Universal Health Services, Inc, through its subsidiaries, owns and operates acute care hospitals, and outpatient and behavioral health care facilities. It operates through Acute Care Hospital Services and Behavioral Health Care Services segments. The company's hospitals offer general and specialty surgery, internal medicine, obstetrics, emergency room care, radiology, oncology, diagnostic and coronary care, pediatric services, pharmacy services, and/or behavioral health services.