Aristeia Capital L.L.C. Purchases New Position in Encompass Health Corporation $EHC

Key Points

• Aristeia Capital L.L.C. invested $277,000 in Encompass Health Corporation, purchasing 2,739 shares of the company in the first quarter.
• Recent analyst ratings for Encompass Health include a downgrade from "strong-buy" to "buy" by Wall Street Zen, while Stephens upgraded the stock to "strong-buy" with a price target of $135.00.
• Encompass Health announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.19 per share, with the next payment scheduled for October 15th, which reflects a positive change from the previous dividend of $0.17.

Aristeia Capital L.L.C. purchased a new stake in shares of Encompass Health Corporation (NYSE:EHC - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,739 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $277,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Encompass Health by 5.1% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,818,783 shares of the company's stock valued at $589,326,000 after purchasing an additional 282,532 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Encompass Health by 25.6% in the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,080,918 shares of the company's stock worth $210,756,000 after buying an additional 424,691 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Encompass Health by 5.3% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,871,581 shares of the company's stock worth $189,549,000 after buying an additional 93,992 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Encompass Health by 13.1% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,822,376 shares of the company's stock worth $184,571,000 after purchasing an additional 211,707 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Encompass Health by 11.9% during the 1st quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,541,477 shares of the company's stock worth $156,121,000 after purchasing an additional 163,400 shares during the period. 97.25% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EHC has been the topic of several analyst reports. KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of Encompass Health from $122.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Encompass Health from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Encompass Health from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Encompass Health from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Stephens raised shares of Encompass Health from an "overweight" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $135.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and seven have assigned a Buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Encompass Health currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $137.71.

Encompass Health Price Performance

Shares of Encompass Health stock traded down $0.76 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $126.04. 551,583 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 804,352. The company has a market cap of $12.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $117.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $112.58. Encompass Health Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $87.85 and a fifty-two week high of $127.15.

Encompass Health (NYSE:EHC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.20. Encompass Health had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 17.83%. The business had revenue of $1.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.43 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.11 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. Encompass Health has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.120-5.340 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Encompass Health Corporation will post 4.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Encompass Health Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 1st will be paid a $0.19 dividend. This is a boost from Encompass Health's previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 1st. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Encompass Health's payout ratio is 13.31%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Patrick William Tuer sold 1,020 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.59, for a total value of $126,061.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 18,846 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,329,177.14. This trade represents a 5.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

Encompass Health Profile

Encompass Health Corporation provides post-acute healthcare services in the United States and Puerto Rico. It owns and operates inpatient rehabilitation hospitals that provide medical, nursing, therapy, and ancillary services. The company provides specialized rehabilitative treatment on an inpatient basis to patients who have experienced physical or cognitive disabilities or injuries due to medical conditions, such as strokes, hip fractures, and various debilitating neurological conditions.