U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. (NYSE:USPH) Given Average Rating of “Buy” by Brokerages

U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. (NYSE:USPH) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Buy” by the five research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $114.00.

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on USPH shares. Citizens Jmp upgraded U.S. Physical Therapy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Bank of America raised U.S. Physical Therapy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $100.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Monday. JMP Securities assumed coverage on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy in a report on Monday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $113.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy from $117.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of U.S. Physical Therapy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other U.S. Physical Therapy news, CFO Carey P. Hendrickson sold 516 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.25, for a total value of $49,665.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 20,469 shares in the company, valued at $1,970,141.25. The trade was a 2.46 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Nancy Ham sold 1,172 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.72, for a total transaction of $113,355.84. Following the sale, the director now owns 1,112 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $107,552.64. This represents a 51.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 7,412 shares of company stock worth $706,605. 1.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On U.S. Physical Therapy

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of USPH. State Street Corp increased its holdings in U.S. Physical Therapy by 17.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 667,868 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,522,000 after purchasing an additional 99,244 shares during the last quarter. Southernsun Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 10.5% during the third quarter. Southernsun Asset Management LLC now owns 547,111 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,302,000 after buying an additional 52,062 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 2.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 423,846 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,173,000 after buying an additional 10,462 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 1.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 343,073 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,040,000 after buying an additional 4,477 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 239,982 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,179,000 after buying an additional 9,434 shares during the period.

U.S. Physical Therapy Stock Down 0.6 %

USPH opened at $94.98 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $89.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $89.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 101.04, a PEG ratio of 4.23 and a beta of 1.46. U.S. Physical Therapy has a fifty-two week low of $76.18 and a fifty-two week high of $113.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a current ratio of 1.78.

U.S. Physical Therapy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.85%. U.S. Physical Therapy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 187.23%.

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.