Copeland Capital Management LLC Purchases 72,463 Shares of U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. $USPH

Key Points

• Copeland Capital Management LLC increased its stake in U.S. Physical Therapy by 8.9%, acquiring 72,463 shares in the second quarter, now holding a total of 888,735 shares valued at approximately $69.5 million.
• Insider sales have been reported, with COO Eric Joseph Williams selling 1,000 shares and CEO Christopher J. Reading selling 2,000 shares recently, indicating a slight decrease in their ownership stakes.
• Analysts currently have a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for U.S. Physical Therapy, with an average price target of $110.25, reflecting optimism about the company's performance despite some recent downgrades.

Copeland Capital Management LLC increased its position in U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. (NYSE:USPH - Free Report) by 8.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 888,735 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 72,463 shares during the quarter. U.S. Physical Therapy comprises about 1.4% of Copeland Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Copeland Capital Management LLC owned about 5.85% of U.S. Physical Therapy worth $69,499,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in U.S. Physical Therapy by 27,856.8% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 12,301 shares of the company's stock worth $890,000 after acquiring an additional 12,257 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC bought a new position in U.S. Physical Therapy in the 2nd quarter worth $481,000. Sowell Financial Services LLC bought a new position in U.S. Physical Therapy in the 2nd quarter worth $204,000. Comerica Bank raised its holdings in U.S. Physical Therapy by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 8,181 shares of the company's stock worth $592,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in U.S. Physical Therapy by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 84,964 shares of the company's stock worth $6,148,000 after purchasing an additional 1,873 shares during the last quarter.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Eric Joseph Williams sold 1,000 shares of U.S. Physical Therapy stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.25, for a total transaction of $85,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 25,331 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,159,467.75. This trade represents a 3.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Christopher J. Reading sold 2,000 shares of U.S. Physical Therapy stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.53, for a total transaction of $167,060.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 114,088 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,529,770.64. This represents a 1.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 6,853 shares of company stock worth $581,406 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on USPH. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $110.00 price target on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of U.S. Physical Therapy to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of U.S. Physical Therapy from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, September 21st. Finally, Barrington Research raised their price target on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy from $98.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $110.25.

U.S. Physical Therapy Price Performance

Shares of U.S. Physical Therapy stock opened at $87.34 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.18. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $81.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $76.73. U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $62.77 and a twelve month high of $101.19. The firm has a market cap of $1.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.31 and a beta of 1.48.

U.S. Physical Therapy (NYSE:USPH - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.10. U.S. Physical Therapy had a net margin of 5.05% and a return on equity of 8.78%. The business had revenue of $197.34 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $190.24 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.73 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. will post 2.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Physical Therapy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 12th. Investors of record on Friday, August 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 22nd. U.S. Physical Therapy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 78.60%.

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.

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