Amedisys, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMED) Given Consensus Rating of "Hold" by Analysts

Shares of Amedisys, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMED - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus rating of "Hold" from the eight analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $97.50.

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AMED. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Amedisys from $97.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Raymond James reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Amedisys in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on Amedisys in a research report on Monday. They set a "buy" rating on the stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Amedisys

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FIL Ltd bought a new position in shares of Amedisys in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $124,085,000. Pentwater Capital Management LP raised its stake in shares of Amedisys by 239.5% in the third quarter. Pentwater Capital Management LP now owns 1,144,000 shares of the health services provider's stock valued at $106,850,000 after acquiring an additional 807,000 shares during the last quarter. Westchester Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Amedisys by 269.7% in the third quarter. Westchester Capital Management LLC now owns 850,386 shares of the health services provider's stock valued at $79,426,000 after acquiring an additional 620,386 shares during the last quarter. Water Island Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Amedisys by 185.0% in the fourth quarter. Water Island Capital LLC now owns 710,697 shares of the health services provider's stock valued at $67,559,000 after acquiring an additional 461,368 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Amedisys by 67.7% in the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 956,780 shares of the health services provider's stock valued at $164,844,000 after acquiring an additional 386,411 shares during the last quarter. 94.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Amedisys Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMED traded up $0.33 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $92.71. The company's stock had a trading volume of 96,337 shares, compared to its average volume of 289,153. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -299.05, a PEG ratio of 4.36 and a beta of 0.86. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $93.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $93.53. Amedisys has a fifty-two week low of $73.10 and a fifty-two week high of $96.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05.

Amedisys (NASDAQ:AMED - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The health services provider reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.04 by ($0.10). The business had revenue of $570.79 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $566.85 million. Amedisys had a negative net margin of 0.44% and a positive return on equity of 12.76%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.16 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Amedisys will post 4.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Amedisys Company Profile

Amedisys, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides healthcare services in the United States. It operates through three segments: Home Health, Hospice, and High Acuity Care. The Home Health segment offers a range of services in the homes of individuals for the recovery of patients from surgery, chronic disability, or terminal illness, as well as prevents avoidable hospital readmissions through its skilled nurses; nursing services, rehabilitation therapists specialized in physical, speech, and occupational therapy; and social workers and aides for assisting its patients.