U.S. Physical Therapy (NYSE:USPH) Sets New 52-Week Low – Here’s What Happened

U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. (NYSE:USPH) reached a new 52-week low during trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $75.96 and last traded at $76.63, with a volume of 5868 shares. The stock had previously closed at $76.49.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on USPH shares. JMP Securities assumed coverage on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy in a research report on Monday, December 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $113.00 price objective for the company. William Blair reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy in a report on Thursday, February 27th. StockNews.com cut U.S. Physical Therapy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on U.S. Physical Therapy from $117.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Citizens Jmp raised U.S. Physical Therapy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $111.50.

U.S. Physical Therapy Price Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average is $86.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $87.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.16 billion, a PE ratio of 81.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 1.78.

U.S. Physical Therapy (NYSE:USPH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $180.45 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $173.10 million. U.S. Physical Therapy had a net margin of 3.54% and a return on equity of 8.11%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. will post 2.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Physical Therapy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.35%. This is an increase from U.S. Physical Therapy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. U.S. Physical Therapy’s payout ratio is 97.83%.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Graham D. Reeve sold 1,730 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.11, for a total value of $142,050.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,168 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $588,564.48. The trade was a 19.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of U.S. Physical Therapy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 283.0% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 16,842 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,425,000 after buying an additional 12,445 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in U.S. Physical Therapy by 57.1% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 2,631 shares of the company’s stock worth $223,000 after acquiring an additional 956 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of 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. Stifel Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 12.1% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 57,166 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,838,000 after purchasing an additional 6,154 shares during the period. Finally, Quest Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 2,368.2% during the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 8,614 shares of the company’s stock worth $729,000 after purchasing an additional 8,265 shares during the last quarter.

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.