AdaptHealth Corp. (NASDAQ:AHCO) Short Interest Up 22.5% in March

Key Points

• Short interest up 22.5% — shorted shares rose to 9,040,635 as of March 13 (6.8% of shares outstanding) with a short-interest ratio of 5.1 days, signaling elevated bearish positioning.
• Q4 earnings missed — AdaptHealth reported EPS of ($0.76) versus $0.34 expected while beating revenue forecasts ($846.3M vs. $832.5M), but the company posted a negative net margin and a negative P/E.
• Insider buying and mixed analyst views — major shareholder Richard M. Cashin Jr. purchased 820,528 shares (~$7.98M at $9.73 each), while Wall Street consensus is a "Moderate Buy" with an average target of $13.25 amid divergent analyst ratings.

AdaptHealth Corp. (NASDAQ:AHCO - Get Free Report) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 9,040,635 shares, a growth of 22.5% from the February 26th total of 7,377,638 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,767,075 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.1 days. Currently, 6.8% of the shares of the company are short sold.

AdaptHealth Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AHCO opened at $11.20 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The company has a market cap of $1.52 billion, a P/E ratio of -20.36, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.76. AdaptHealth has a 52 week low of $7.11 and a 52 week high of $11.75. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $10.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.78.

AdaptHealth (NASDAQ:AHCO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The company reported ($0.76) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.34 by ($1.10). The business had revenue of $846.29 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $832.51 million. AdaptHealth had a positive return on equity of 3.42% and a negative net margin of 2.18%.The business's quarterly revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.34 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that AdaptHealth will post 0.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AHCO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded AdaptHealth from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, February 28th. Leerink Partners lowered their target price on AdaptHealth from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $13.00 target price on shares of AdaptHealth in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Weiss Ratings cut AdaptHealth from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Zacks Research raised AdaptHealth from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, January 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, AdaptHealth presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $13.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AdaptHealth news, major shareholder Richard M. Cashin, Jr. acquired 820,528 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $9.73 per share, for a total transaction of $7,983,737.44. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider owned 14,638,708 shares in the company, valued at $142,434,628.84. This trade represents a 5.94% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders have acquired 2,494,518 shares of company stock valued at $24,352,291 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.55% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AHCO. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its holdings in AdaptHealth by 433.0% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 2,585 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 2,100 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of AdaptHealth by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 22,562 shares of the company's stock worth $227,000 after purchasing an additional 1,794 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of AdaptHealth by 197.0% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 552,677 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,505,000 after purchasing an additional 366,566 shares in the last quarter. Man Group plc increased its holdings in shares of AdaptHealth by 24.3% in the 4th quarter. Man Group plc now owns 88,774 shares of the company's stock valued at $884,000 after purchasing an additional 17,371 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of AdaptHealth by 699.1% in the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 118,942 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,185,000 after purchasing an additional 104,058 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.67% of the company's stock.

About AdaptHealth

AdaptHealth, Inc operates as a leading provider of home medical equipment (HME) and related services in the United States. The company focuses on delivering respiratory care, mobility solutions and bathroom safety products to patients with chronic and acute medical needs. Through its comprehensive service offerings, AdaptHealth aims to enhance quality of life and clinical outcomes for patients who require long-term support outside of a hospital setting.

The company's respiratory portfolio includes products such as continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) devices, oxygen concentrators, ventilators, and associated supplies for patients with sleep apnea, COPD and other pulmonary conditions.

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