U.S. Physical Therapy (NYSE:USPH) Downgraded to “Sell” Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of U.S. Physical Therapy (NYSE:USPH) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. JMP Securities started coverage on U.S. Physical Therapy in a report on Monday, December 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $113.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America raised U.S. Physical Therapy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $100.00 to $115.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. William Blair restated a “market perform” rating on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy in a research note on Thursday. Citizens Jmp upgraded U.S. Physical Therapy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Barrington Research decreased their price objective on U.S. Physical Therapy from $108.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $111.50.

U.S. Physical Therapy Trading Down 1.6 %

USPH opened at $81.08 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.78, a current ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 86.26, a P/E/G ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 1.48. U.S. Physical Therapy has a twelve month low of $76.18 and a twelve month high of $113.63. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $88.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $87.67.

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

U.S. Physical Therapy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.22%. U.S. Physical Therapy’s payout ratio is 95.65%.

Insider Transactions at U.S. Physical Therapy

In other U.S. Physical Therapy news, CFO Carey P. Hendrickson sold 516 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.25, for a total value of $49,665.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 20,469 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,970,141.25. This represents a 2.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in U.S. Physical Therapy by 283.0% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 16,842 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,425,000 after purchasing an additional 12,445 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised 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 valued at $223,000 after purchasing an additional 956 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position 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 worth $56,522,000 after acquiring an additional 99,244 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp grew its stake in U.S. Physical Therapy by 12.1% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 57,166 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,838,000 after buying an additional 6,154 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in U.S. Physical Therapy by 113.4% during the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 16,188 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,370,000 after purchasing an additional 8,604 shares during the last quarter.

U.S. Physical Therapy Company Profile

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.