Fifth Third Bancorp Increases Stock Holdings in U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. $USPH

Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. (NYSE:USPH) by 2,540.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,298 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,908 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp owned about 0.07% of U.S. Physical Therapy worth $772,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of USPH. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in U.S. Physical Therapy by 77.2% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 317,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,946,000 after acquiring an additional 138,194 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its holdings in U.S. Physical Therapy by 45.9% in the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 364,253 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,603,000 after purchasing an additional 114,618 shares during the period. 4D Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy during the 3rd quarter valued at $9,344,000. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 607.2% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 69,834 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,453,000 after purchasing an additional 59,959 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 106.9% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 109,837 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,331,000 after purchasing an additional 56,752 shares during the period.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on USPH. Barrington Research lowered their price objective on U.S. Physical Therapy from $103.00 to $90.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Zacks Research upgraded U.S. Physical Therapy from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $98.00 price target on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “market outperform” rating on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy in a research report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $97.50.

U.S. Physical Therapy Stock Performance

U.S. Physical Therapy stock opened at $75.96 on Tuesday. U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $58.19 and a fifty-two week high of $93.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.19. The stock has a market cap of $1.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 151.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.15. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $67.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $74.53.

U.S. Physical Therapy (NYSE:USPH) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.55 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $198.29 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $200.94 million. U.S. Physical Therapy had a return on equity of 8.81% and a net margin of 4.36%.The firm’s revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.48 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. will post 2.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Physical Therapy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 22nd were issued a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 22nd. U.S. Physical Therapy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 368.00%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Peter Francis Minan acquired 492 shares of U.S. Physical Therapy stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 8th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $63.14 per share, for a total transaction of $31,064.88. Following the transaction, the director owned 2,923 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $184,558.22. This trade represents a 20.24% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

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.