U.S. Physical Therapy (NYSE:USPH) Reaches New 12-Month Low – Time to Sell?

U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. (NYSE:USPH) reached a new 52-week low on Monday . The stock traded as low as $71.90 and last traded at $72.83, with a volume of 429 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $72.79.

Analyst Ratings Changes

USPH has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barrington Research reduced their target price on U.S. Physical Therapy from $108.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. William Blair reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of U.S. Physical Therapy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report 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 target price for the company from $100.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, JMP Securities assumed coverage on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy in a research note on Monday, December 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $113.00 price target for the company. One equities 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $109.00.

U.S. Physical Therapy Trading Down 0.5 %

The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $84.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $86.83. The stock has a market cap of $1.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 77.94, a PEG ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a current ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

U.S. Physical Therapy (NYSE:USPH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $173.10 million. Equities research analysts expect that U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. will post 2.67 earnings per share for the current year.

U.S. Physical Therapy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.46%. 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 dividend payout ratio is 97.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling at U.S. Physical Therapy

In other news, COO Graham D. Reeve sold 1,730 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.11, for a total transaction of $142,050.30. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,168 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $588,564.48. This represents a 19.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of U.S. Physical Therapy

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in U.S. Physical Therapy in the fourth quarter worth about $18,886,000. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 135.4% in the fourth quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 260,125 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,076,000 after buying an additional 149,622 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in U.S. Physical Therapy by 17.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 667,868 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,522,000 after buying an additional 99,244 shares during the period. Copeland Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in U.S. Physical Therapy by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 839,356 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,459,000 after buying an additional 72,715 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in U.S. Physical Therapy in the fourth quarter worth approximately $6,240,000.

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.