Heartland Advisors Inc. Sells 559 Shares of Encompass Health Co. (NYSE:EHC)

Heartland Advisors Inc. lessened its position in shares of Encompass Health Co. (NYSE:EHC) by 2.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,903 shares of the company’s stock after selling 559 shares during the quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Encompass Health were worth $2,392,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Centaurus Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Encompass Health in the 3rd quarter valued at about $108,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in Encompass Health by 38.1% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 38,397 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,711,000 after acquiring an additional 10,591 shares during the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Encompass Health during the 3rd quarter worth $405,000. Fred Alger Management LLC raised its position in shares of Encompass Health by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 30,641 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,961,000 after acquiring an additional 479 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bellevue Group AG lifted its stake in shares of Encompass Health by 38.7% in the 3rd quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 19,233 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,859,000 after purchasing an additional 5,365 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Encompass Health in a research note on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com raised shares of Encompass Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 15th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Encompass Health from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Encompass Health from $117.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $110.00 price objective on shares of Encompass Health in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $107.67.

Insider Activity

In other Encompass Health news, CAO Andrew L. Price sold 5,042 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.29, for a total transaction of $495,578.18. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 69,164 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,798,129.56. This represents a 6.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Encompass Health Price Performance

Shares of EHC opened at $100.75 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. Encompass Health Co. has a twelve month low of $78.53 and a twelve month high of $104.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a 50 day moving average of $98.67 and a 200-day moving average of $97.38.

Encompass Health (NYSE:EHC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.12. Encompass Health had a net margin of 8.48% and a return on equity of 17.56%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Encompass Health Co. will post 4.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Encompass Health Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be given a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. Encompass Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.25%.

Encompass Health Profile

Encompass Health Corporation provides post-acute healthcare services in the United States and Puerto Rico. It owns and operates inpatient rehabilitation hospitals that provide medical, nursing, therapy, and ancillary services. The company provides specialized rehabilitative treatment on an inpatient basis to patients who have experienced physical or cognitive disabilities or injuries due to medical conditions, such as strokes, hip fractures, and various debilitating neurological conditions.