Woodline Partners LP Increases Holdings in 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 lifted its stake in U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. (NYSE:USPH - Free Report) by 228.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 82,419 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 57,293 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP owned approximately 0.54% of U.S. Physical Therapy worth $5,964,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 952.4% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 442 shares of the company's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy in the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in U.S. Physical Therapy by 34.6% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,030 shares of the company's stock valued at $75,000 after buying an additional 265 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in U.S. Physical Therapy during the fourth quarter valued at $84,000. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC bought a new stake in U.S. Physical Therapy during the first quarter valued at $92,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on USPH. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on U.S. Physical Therapy in a research note on Thursday. They set an "overweight" rating and a $110.00 price objective for the company. Zacks Research raised U.S. Physical Therapy to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Barrington Research lifted their price objective on U.S. Physical Therapy from $98.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised U.S. Physical Therapy from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, September 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $110.25.

U.S. Physical Therapy Trading Up 1.0%

NYSE USPH traded up $0.83 on Thursday, hitting $79.70. The company's stock had a trading volume of 29,047 shares, compared to its average volume of 141,395. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $80.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $76.48. The firm has a market cap of $1.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.80, a PEG ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 1.47. U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $62.77 and a 52-week high of $101.19.

U.S. Physical Therapy (NYSE:USPH - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $197.34 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $190.24 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.73 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. will post 2.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Physical Therapy Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other U.S. Physical Therapy news, COO Graham D. Reeve sold 1,792 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.57, for a total transaction of $155,133.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 22,246 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,925,836.22. The trade was a 7.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Christopher J. Reading sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.53, for a total transaction of $167,060.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 114,088 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 in the last three months. Corporate 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.