U.S. Physical Therapy (NYSE:USPH) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. (NYSE:USPH)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $93.46, but opened at $96.21. U.S. Physical Therapy shares last traded at $95.81, with a volume of 9,871 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on USPH. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped 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. StockNews.com upgraded U.S. Physical Therapy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. JMP Securities initiated coverage on U.S. Physical Therapy in a report on Monday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $113.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America upgraded U.S. Physical Therapy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $100.00 to $115.00 in a report on Monday. Finally, Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $108.00 price target on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $114.00.

U.S. Physical Therapy Stock Down 0.6 %

The company has a market cap of $1.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 101.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.23 and a beta of 1.46. 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 has a fifty day moving average price of $89.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $89.85.

U.S. Physical Therapy Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Eric Joseph Williams sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.84, for a total value of $191,680.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 14,814 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,419,773.76. This represents a 11.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Carey P. Hendrickson sold 516 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.25, for a total value of $49,665.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 20,469 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,970,141.25. This represents a 2.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 7,412 shares of company stock valued at $706,605 in the last three months. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On U.S. Physical Therapy

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp boosted its stake in U.S. Physical Therapy by 17.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 667,868 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,522,000 after acquiring an additional 99,244 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 763.7% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 69,523 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,425,000 after purchasing an additional 61,474 shares during the last quarter. Southernsun Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in U.S. Physical Therapy by 10.5% in the third quarter. Southernsun Asset Management LLC now owns 547,111 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,302,000 after purchasing an additional 52,062 shares during the last quarter. Penn Davis Mcfarland Inc. purchased a new position in U.S. Physical Therapy in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,552,000. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its holdings in U.S. Physical Therapy by 18.8% during the third quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 160,441 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,578,000 after purchasing an additional 25,393 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.