U.S. Physical Therapy (NYSE:USPH) Reaches New 12-Month Low – Here’s Why

Shares of U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. (NYSE:USPH) reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $69.99 and last traded at $70.70, with a volume of 2506 shares. The stock had previously closed at $71.93.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

USPH has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of U.S. Physical Therapy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Bank of America raised shares of U.S. Physical Therapy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $100.00 to $115.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. William Blair reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. JMP Securities assumed coverage on U.S. Physical Therapy in a research note on Monday, December 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $113.00 target price for the company. Finally, Barrington Research cut their price target on U.S. Physical Therapy from $108.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned 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.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $109.00.

U.S. Physical Therapy Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 77.10, a P/E/G ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $82.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $86.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.78, a current ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

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

U.S. Physical Therapy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.48%. 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 other U.S. Physical Therapy news, COO Graham D. Reeve sold 1,730 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $588,564.48. This represents a 19.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of U.S. Physical Therapy

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in U.S. Physical Therapy by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,084,197 shares of the company’s stock worth $96,179,000 after acquiring an additional 6,393 shares in the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 839,356 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,459,000 after purchasing an additional 72,715 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 99,244 shares in the last quarter. Southernsun Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in U.S. Physical Therapy by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Southernsun Asset Management LLC now owns 571,809 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,725,000 after purchasing an additional 24,698 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in U.S. Physical Therapy by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 426,298 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,818,000 after buying an additional 7,890 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.