Investors Purchase High Volume of Call Options on Surgery Partners (NASDAQ:SGRY)

Surgery Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:SGRY) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Stock traders acquired 2,271 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 172% compared to the average daily volume of 834 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Mizuho cut their price target on Surgery Partners from $19.00 to $17.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on Surgery Partners from $31.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Surgery Partners from $28.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 5th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Surgery Partners in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Finally, US Capital Advisors set a $21.00 target price on Surgery Partners in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Surgery Partners has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.18.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Surgery Partners

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SGRY. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Surgery Partners by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 45,693 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,085,000 after acquiring an additional 2,015 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in Surgery Partners by 1,253.7% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 202,274 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,804,000 after purchasing an additional 219,806 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in Surgery Partners by 11.0% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 12,853 shares of the company’s stock valued at $305,000 after purchasing an additional 1,278 shares in the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Surgery Partners during the second quarter valued at approximately $219,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Surgery Partners by 7.4% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,683,311 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,420,000 after purchasing an additional 115,627 shares during the last quarter.

Surgery Partners Price Performance

NASDAQ SGRY traded up $0.51 on Thursday, hitting $17.11. The stock had a trading volume of 337,084 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,520,600. Surgery Partners has a 52-week low of $11.41 and a 52-week high of $24.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a current ratio of 1.86. The company has a market capitalization of $2.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -28.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.02 and a beta of 1.96. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $14.35 and a 200-day moving average of $14.37.

Surgery Partners (NASDAQ:SGRY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported ($0.03) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.15) by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $810.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $797.69 million. Surgery Partners had a negative net margin of 2.28% and a positive return on equity of 1.04%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.04 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Surgery Partners will post 0.25 EPS for the current year.

About Surgery Partners

Surgery Partners, Inc operates as a healthcare services provider specializing in the management and ownership of ambulatory surgery centers, surgical hospitals and multispecialty rehabilitation hospitals across the United States. Through its network of facilities, the company coordinates and delivers a broad range of outpatient surgical procedures in specialties such as orthopedics, ophthalmology, otolaryngology, gastroenterology, pain management and general surgery. Its integrated platform offers ancillary services including on-site imaging, laboratory testing, infusion therapy and physical, occupational and speech rehabilitation.

Since its establishment in 2010 and subsequent public listing in 2015, Surgery Partners has focused on strategic partnerships with physicians and health systems to expand access to cost-effective outpatient care.