U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. (NYSE:USPH) Given Average Rating of “Buy” by Analysts

U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. (NYSE:USPH) has earned an average rating of “Buy” from the six ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $111.50.

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on USPH shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of U.S. Physical Therapy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Citizens Jmp raised shares of U.S. Physical Therapy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. JMP Securities assumed coverage on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy in a research report on Monday, December 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $113.00 price target for the company. Bank of America upgraded shares of U.S. Physical Therapy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $100.00 to $115.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Barrington Research dropped their target price 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.

U.S. Physical Therapy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE USPH opened at $80.61 on Monday. U.S. Physical Therapy has a fifty-two week low of $76.18 and a fifty-two week high of $113.63. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $87.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $87.56. The company has a market capitalization of $1.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 85.76, a P/E/G ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a current ratio of 1.78.

U.S. Physical Therapy (NYSE:USPH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.69 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $180.45 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $173.10 million. U.S. Physical Therapy had a net margin of 3.54% and a return on equity of 8.11%. Analysts expect that U.S. Physical Therapy will post 2.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Physical Therapy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This is a boost from U.S. Physical Therapy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.23%. U.S. Physical Therapy’s payout ratio is 97.83%.

Insider Activity at U.S. Physical Therapy

In other U.S. Physical Therapy news, COO Graham D. Reeve sold 1,730 shares of U.S. Physical Therapy stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.11, for a total value of $142,050.30. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,168 shares in the company, valued at approximately $588,564.48. The trade was a 19.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of U.S. Physical Therapy

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its holdings in U.S. Physical Therapy by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 4,833 shares of the company’s stock valued at $429,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in U.S. Physical Therapy by 59.8% in the 4th quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. Albert D Mason Inc. increased its holdings in U.S. Physical Therapy by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Albert D Mason Inc. now owns 10,596 shares of the company’s stock valued at $940,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in U.S. Physical Therapy by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 16,344 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,450,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aquatic Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in U.S. Physical Therapy by 18.0% in the 4th quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC now owns 1,298 shares of the company’s stock valued at $115,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares during the last quarter.

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.