Woodline Partners LP Acquires 57,293 Shares of U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. $USPH

Key Points

• Woodline Partners LP has significantly increased its ownership in U.S. Physical Therapy, now holding a stake worth approximately $5.96 million after acquiring additional shares in the first quarter.
• U.S. Physical Therapy reported $0.81 earnings per share for the latest quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations of $0.71 and reflecting an 18% increase in revenue year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.45 per share, with a current dividend yield of 2.2%, indicating a payout ratio of 78.60%.

Woodline Partners LP raised its position in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. (NYSE:USPH - Free Report) by 228.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 82,419 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 57,293 shares during the quarter. Woodline Partners LP owned 0.54% of U.S. Physical Therapy worth $5,964,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in U.S. Physical Therapy by 27,856.8% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 12,301 shares of the company's stock valued at $890,000 after purchasing an additional 12,257 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in U.S. Physical Therapy during the 4th quarter valued at $84,000. Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in U.S. Physical Therapy by 49.3% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 13,176 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,169,000 after purchasing an additional 4,350 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 2.3% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 84,964 shares of the company's stock worth $6,148,000 after acquiring an additional 1,873 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Comerica Bank increased its stake in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 3.0% in the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 8,181 shares of the company's stock worth $592,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares during the last quarter.

U.S. Physical Therapy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:USPH traded down $0.85 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $79.42. The company's stock had a trading volume of 147,384 shares, compared to its average volume of 116,870. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.68, a PEG ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 1.47. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $79.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $76.45. U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $62.77 and a fifty-two week high of $101.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.18.

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

U.S. Physical Therapy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 12th. Investors of record on Friday, August 22nd were paid a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 22nd. U.S. Physical Therapy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 78.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Carey P. Hendrickson sold 698 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.11, for a total value of $60,104.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 27,808 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,394,546.88. This trade represents a 2.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Graham D. Reeve sold 763 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.97, for a total transaction of $64,832.11. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 21,483 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,825,410.51. The trade was a 3.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 6,853 shares of company stock valued at $581,406 in the last quarter. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

USPH has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barrington Research upped 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 note on Friday, August 8th. Zacks Research raised shares of U.S. Physical Therapy to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of U.S. Physical Therapy from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $110.25.

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.