U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. (NYSE:USPH) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. (NYSE:USPH) saw a significant drop in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 454,200 shares, a drop of 15.7% from the February 28th total of 538,500 shares. Currently, 3.1% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 105,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.3 days.

U.S. Physical Therapy Price Performance

Shares of USPH stock traded up $0.10 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $72.48. 95,922 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 103,371. U.S. Physical Therapy has a 52 week low of $69.99 and a 52 week high of $112.52. The stock has a market cap of $1.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 77.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 1.78. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $82.57 and its 200-day moving average is $86.44.

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

U.S. Physical Therapy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.48%. This is a positive change from U.S. Physical Therapy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. U.S. Physical Therapy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 97.83%.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Graham D. Reeve sold 1,730 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 7,168 shares in the company, valued at $588,564.48. This represents a 19.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of U.S. Physical Therapy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in U.S. Physical Therapy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in U.S. Physical Therapy by 3,200.0% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 726 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 704 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in U.S. Physical Therapy during the 4th quarter worth $84,000. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy during the 4th quarter valued at $113,000.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

USPH has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citizens Jmp raised U.S. Physical Therapy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. JMP Securities started coverage on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy in a research note on Monday, December 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $113.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America upgraded shares of U.S. Physical Therapy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $100.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. William Blair reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy from $120.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, U.S. Physical Therapy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $109.00.

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.