Amedisys (NASDAQ:AMED) Upgraded to “Buy” by StockNews.com

Amedisys (NASDAQ:AMED) was upgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Saturday.

A number of other research firms have also commented on AMED. Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Amedisys in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Amedisys from $97.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $101.00 price objective on shares of Amedisys in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Amedisys currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $100.80.

Amedisys Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of AMED stock opened at $92.08 on Friday. Amedisys has a twelve month low of $73.10 and a twelve month high of $96.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $92.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $93.32. The company has a market capitalization of $3.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -143.87, a PEG ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 0.84.

Amedisys (NASDAQ:AMED) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The health services provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $571.41 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $565.38 million. Amedisys had a negative net margin of 0.91% and a positive return on equity of 12.85%. Amedisys’s revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.00 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Amedisys will post 4.57 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Amedisys by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,241,160 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $302,724,000 after buying an additional 12,137 shares in the last quarter. Alpine Associates Management Inc. lifted its stake in Amedisys by 23.0% during the fourth quarter. Alpine Associates Management Inc. now owns 1,271,097 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $120,830,000 after purchasing an additional 237,600 shares during the period. Pentwater Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in Amedisys by 239.5% during the third quarter. Pentwater Capital Management LP now owns 1,144,000 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $106,850,000 after purchasing an additional 807,000 shares in the last quarter. Westchester Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Amedisys by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Westchester Capital Management LLC now owns 879,402 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $83,596,000 after purchasing an additional 29,016 shares during the period. Finally, Park West Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Amedisys by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Park West Asset Management LLC now owns 812,069 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $77,195,000 after buying an additional 60,350 shares in the last quarter. 94.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Amedisys

Amedisys, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides healthcare services in the United States. It operates through three segments: Home Health, Hospice, and High Acuity Care. The Home Health segment offers a range of services in the homes of individuals for the recovery of patients from surgery, chronic disability, or terminal illness, as well as prevents avoidable hospital readmissions through its skilled nurses; nursing services, rehabilitation therapists specialized in physical, speech, and occupational therapy; and social workers and aides for assisting its patients.