Barrington Research Reaffirms Outperform Rating for U.S. Physical Therapy (NYSE:USPH)

Barrington Research restated their outperform rating on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy (NYSE:USPH - Free Report) in a research report released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $122.00 price objective on the stock.

USPH has been the subject of several other reports. StockNews.com raised shares of U.S. Physical Therapy from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy from $99.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $125.67.

U.S. Physical Therapy Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of USPH stock traded up $1.16 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $105.08. 60,976 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 69,231. The company has a quick ratio of 2.28, a current ratio of 2.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market cap of $1.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 77.76, a PEG ratio of 4.99 and a beta of 1.39. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $105.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $96.37. U.S. Physical Therapy has a 12-month low of $78.08 and a 12-month high of $124.11.

U.S. Physical Therapy (NYSE:USPH - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.58 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $155.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $153.30 million. U.S. Physical Therapy had a return on equity of 8.52% and a net margin of 4.67%. The company's revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.59 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that U.S. Physical Therapy will post 2.77 EPS for the current year.

U.S. Physical Therapy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.67%. U.S. Physical Therapy's payout ratio is 130.37%.

Insider Transactions at U.S. Physical Therapy

In other news, COO Graham D. Reeve sold 2,629 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.39, for a total transaction of $274,441.31. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 6,902 shares in the company, valued at approximately $720,499.78. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other U.S. Physical Therapy news, CFO Carey P. Hendrickson sold 1,800 shares of U.S. Physical Therapy stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.28, for a total transaction of $193,104.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 21,186 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,272,834.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Graham D. Reeve sold 2,629 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.39, for a total transaction of $274,441.31. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 6,902 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $720,499.78. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 10,829 shares of company stock valued at $1,141,535. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On U.S. Physical Therapy

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in USPH. Albert D Mason Inc. boosted its position in U.S. Physical Therapy by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Albert D Mason Inc. now owns 10,489 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,184,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the period. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in U.S. Physical Therapy by 1.0% in the first quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 15,075 shares of the company's stock worth $1,702,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp increased its holdings in U.S. Physical Therapy by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 13,116 shares of the company's stock worth $1,480,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its position in U.S. Physical Therapy by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 3,002 shares of the company's stock valued at $339,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 8,683 shares of the company's stock worth $980,000 after buying an additional 230 shares during the period.

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.