U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. (NYSE:USPH) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. (NYSE:USPH) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $110.25.

USPH has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $110.00 price objective for the company. Barrington Research raised their price objective on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy from $98.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of U.S. Physical Therapy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, September 21st. Zacks Research upgraded shares of U.S. Physical Therapy to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th.

U.S. Physical Therapy Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of U.S. Physical Therapy stock opened at $88.64 on Tuesday. U.S. Physical Therapy has a 1 year low of $62.77 and a 1 year high of $101.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.18. The company has a market capitalization of $1.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.71, a PEG ratio of 4.40 and a beta of 1.48. The company’s fifty day moving average is $83.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $77.53.

U.S. Physical Therapy (NYSE:USPH) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 22nd. The company reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter. The business had revenue of $140.66 million for the quarter. U.S. Physical Therapy had a net margin of 5.05% and a return on equity of 8.78%. Analysts forecast that U.S. Physical Therapy will post 2.67 earnings per share for the current year.

U.S. Physical Therapy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 12th. Investors of record on Friday, August 22nd were paid a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. U.S. Physical Therapy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 78.60%.

Insider Transactions at U.S. Physical Therapy

In related news, COO Eric Joseph Williams sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.25, for a total value of $85,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 25,331 shares in the company, valued at $2,159,467.75. This trade represents a 3.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Nancy Ham sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.71, for a total transaction of $49,026.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 1,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $162,929.74. This trade represents a 23.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 6,853 shares of company stock valued at $581,406. 2.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of U.S. Physical Therapy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in U.S. Physical Therapy by 35.7% in the second quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 570 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in U.S. Physical Therapy by 1.6% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 10,447 shares of the company’s stock valued at $817,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey raised its holdings in U.S. Physical Therapy by 5.7% in the second quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 3,247 shares of the company’s stock valued at $254,000 after acquiring an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC raised its holdings in U.S. Physical Therapy by 6.6% in the first quarter. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 3,054 shares of the company’s stock valued at $221,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Snowden Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in U.S. Physical Therapy by 3.6% in the second quarter. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $438,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares in 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.