Select Medical Holdings Corporation (NYSE:SEM) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Select Medical Holdings Corporation (NYSE:SEM) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in February. As of February 27th, there was short interest totaling 3,030,414 shares, a decline of 13.8% from the February 12th total of 3,515,119 shares. Currently, 2.9% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,257,371 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.4 days. Based on an average daily volume of 1,257,371 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.4 days. Currently, 2.9% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Institutional Trading of Select Medical

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in Select Medical by 8.5% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 95,771 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $1,599,000 after acquiring an additional 7,502 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Select Medical by 96.6% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 33,894 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $566,000 after purchasing an additional 16,656 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Select Medical by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 64,400 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $1,075,000 after purchasing an additional 2,809 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Select Medical during the 1st quarter worth $220,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Select Medical by 25.3% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 728,689 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $12,169,000 after purchasing an additional 147,183 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.48% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on SEM shares. Benchmark cut Select Medical from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Select Medical from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $16.50 price target (down from $19.00) on shares of Select Medical in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Weiss Ratings upgraded Select Medical from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Select Medical from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Select Medical presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $15.63.

Select Medical Price Performance

SEM stock opened at $16.26 on Thursday. Select Medical has a 1 year low of $11.65 and a 1 year high of $18.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.02 billion, a PE ratio of 14.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.22. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $15.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $14.47.

Select Medical (NYSE:SEM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 19th. The health services provider reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $1.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.36 billion. Select Medical had a return on equity of 7.26% and a net margin of 2.68%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.18 EPS. Select Medical has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.220-1.320 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Select Medical will post 1.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Select Medical announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, February 19th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the health services provider to purchase up to 49.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Select Medical Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Monday, March 2nd were given a dividend of $0.0625 per share. This represents a $0.25 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 2nd. Select Medical’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.74%.

About Select Medical

Select Medical is a leading provider of specialized healthcare services in the United States, operating through two primary business segments: Hospital Division and Outpatient Rehabilitation Division. The Hospital Division offers long-term acute care (LTAC) hospitals and inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs) that serve patients recovering from complex illnesses, trauma or surgery. The Outpatient Rehabilitation Division delivers physical, occupational and speech therapy services through a network of clinic locations and home-based care programs.

Headquartered in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, Select Medical was founded in 1996 and has grown through strategic partnerships, joint ventures and acquisitions.