JMP Securities Reaffirms Market Outperform Rating for U.S. Physical Therapy (NYSE:USPH)

JMP Securities reiterated their market outperform rating on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy (NYSE:USPH - Free Report) in a research report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. JMP Securities currently has a $113.00 price objective on the stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. William Blair restated a "market perform" rating on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of U.S. Physical Therapy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy from $120.00 to $110.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Barrington Research lowered their price target on U.S. Physical Therapy from $108.00 to $98.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $109.00.

U.S. Physical Therapy Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE:USPH traded up $1.10 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $70.78. 81,078 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 107,465. The stock has a market cap of $1.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 75.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 1.38. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average of $74.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $84.42. U.S. Physical Therapy has a 52-week low of $62.77 and a 52-week high of $108.14.

U.S. Physical Therapy (NYSE:USPH - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.69 by ($0.04). U.S. Physical Therapy had a net margin of 3.54% and a return on equity of 8.11%. The business had revenue of $180.45 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $173.10 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that U.S. Physical Therapy will post 2.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Physical Therapy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from U.S. Physical Therapy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.54%. U.S. Physical Therapy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 97.83%.

Insider Transactions at U.S. Physical Therapy

In other news, COO Graham D. Reeve sold 1,730 shares of U.S. Physical Therapy stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, valued at $588,564.48. The trade was a 19.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On U.S. Physical Therapy

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in USPH. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 59.8% in the fourth quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 326 shares of the company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in U.S. Physical Therapy in the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in U.S. Physical Therapy by 3,200.0% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 726 shares of the company's stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 704 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 265 shares during the period. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy in the fourth quarter valued at about $84,000.

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.