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

U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. (NYSE:USPH) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $105.3333.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $103.00 target price on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy in a research note on Monday, January 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on U.S. Physical Therapy from $110.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy in a research report on Monday, December 15th.

U.S. Physical Therapy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:USPH opened at $86.09 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $78.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $80.92. U.S. Physical Therapy has a 1 year low of $62.77 and a 1 year high of $93.50. The firm has a market cap of $1.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.17, a P/E/G ratio of 3.51 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

U.S. Physical Therapy (NYSE:USPH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by ($0.01). U.S. Physical Therapy had a net margin of 5.71% and a return on equity of 8.62%. The company had revenue of $197.13 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $193.98 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.69 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 17.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that U.S. Physical Therapy will post 2.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Physical Therapy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 17th were given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 17th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. U.S. Physical Therapy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 75.63%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On U.S. Physical Therapy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in USPH. Copeland Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 8.9% in the 2nd quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 888,735 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,499,000 after acquiring an additional 72,463 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lifted its position in U.S. Physical Therapy by 47.6% in the third quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 474,688 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,325,000 after purchasing an additional 153,054 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in U.S. Physical Therapy by 6.2% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 474,244 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,285,000 after purchasing an additional 27,577 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in U.S. Physical Therapy by 1.2% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 352,923 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,602,000 after buying an additional 4,306 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in U.S. Physical Therapy by 9.4% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 346,160 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,070,000 after buying an additional 29,671 shares during the period.

About U.S. Physical Therapy

U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc (NYSE: USPH) is a leading owner and operator of outpatient physical therapy clinics across the United States. The company delivers rehabilitative care to patients recovering from orthopedic injuries, neurological disorders and chronic conditions. Its core services include one-on-one physical therapy sessions, aquatic therapy, occupational therapy, massage therapy and sports medicine programs designed to restore mobility and enhance quality of life.

In addition to traditional rehabilitation services, U.S.