D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Increases Position in U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. (NYSE:USPH)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. (NYSE:USPH - Free Report) by 44.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 87,184 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 27,028 shares during the quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. owned 0.58% of U.S. Physical Therapy worth $7,734,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in USPH. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. raised its position in U.S. Physical Therapy by 135.4% during the 4th quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 260,125 shares of the company's stock worth $23,076,000 after purchasing an additional 149,622 shares during the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in U.S. Physical Therapy by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 839,356 shares of the company's stock valued at $74,459,000 after acquiring an additional 72,715 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in U.S. Physical Therapy during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $6,240,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in U.S. Physical Therapy by 20.1% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 299,791 shares of the company's stock worth $26,594,000 after purchasing an additional 50,163 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,526,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on USPH. StockNews.com raised shares of U.S. Physical Therapy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. William Blair reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and issued a $113.00 price objective on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Barrington Research decreased their target price on U.S. Physical Therapy from $108.00 to $98.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on U.S. Physical Therapy from $120.00 to $110.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $109.00.

U.S. Physical Therapy Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of NYSE USPH traded down $1.20 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $78.20. 7,808 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 110,467. U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. has a one year low of $62.77 and a one year high of $106.06. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $71.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $83.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a current ratio of 1.78. The company has a market cap of $1.19 billion, a PE ratio of 83.20, a P/E/G ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 1.44.

U.S. Physical Therapy (NYSE:USPH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.02. U.S. Physical Therapy had a net margin of 3.54% and a return on equity of 8.11%. The business had revenue of $183.79 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $176.78 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.51 EPS. U.S. Physical Therapy's quarterly revenue was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. will post 2.67 EPS for the current year.

U.S. Physical Therapy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. U.S. Physical Therapy's dividend payout ratio is currently 82.57%.

Insider Transactions at U.S. Physical Therapy

In other U.S. Physical Therapy news, COO Graham D. Reeve sold 1,730 shares of the firm's 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 in the company, valued at approximately $588,564.48. This trade represents a 19.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

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.