U.S. Physical Therapy (NYSE:USPH) Reaches New 52-Week Low – Should You Sell?

Shares of U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. (NYSE:USPH) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $62.77 and last traded at $66.26, with a volume of 33386 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $67.10.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

USPH has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barrington Research decreased 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 research report on Friday, February 28th. StockNews.com downgraded U.S. Physical Therapy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. William Blair reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy in a report on Thursday, February 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on U.S. Physical Therapy from $120.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded U.S. Physical Therapy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $100.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $109.00.

U.S. Physical Therapy Stock Down 3.5 %

The company has a market cap of $983.93 million, a P/E ratio of 68.90, a PEG ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 1.38. 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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $80.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $85.98.

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

U.S. Physical Therapy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.78%. 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 is presently 97.83%.

Insider Activity at U.S. Physical Therapy

In other 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 7,168 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $588,564.48. This represents a 19.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of U.S. Physical Therapy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in U.S. Physical Therapy by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,084,197 shares of the company’s stock worth $96,179,000 after acquiring an additional 6,393 shares during the period. Copeland Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 839,356 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,459,000 after purchasing an additional 72,715 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 17.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 667,868 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,522,000 after purchasing an additional 99,244 shares during the period. Southernsun Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in U.S. Physical Therapy by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Southernsun Asset Management LLC now owns 571,809 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,725,000 after purchasing an additional 24,698 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in U.S. Physical Therapy by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 426,298 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,818,000 after buying an additional 7,890 shares during the period.

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.