Surgery Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:SGRY) Given Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Surgery Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:SGRY) has received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from ten brokerages, with an average 12-month price target of $32.00.
• The company's latest quarterly earnings report showed a positive EPS of $0.17, surpassing estimates, with revenues increasing by 8.4% year-over-year to $826.20 million.
• Recent insider trading includes notable sales by directors, reflecting a 30.71% decrease in one insider’s ownership after selling 20,018 shares at an average price of $22.74.

Shares of Surgery Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:SGRY - Get Free Report) have received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the ten brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have given a hold recommendation and six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $32.00.

Several research firms have recently commented on SGRY. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on Surgery Partners in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $27.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Surgery Partners in a research report on Wednesday. Bank of America assumed coverage on Surgery Partners in a research report on Monday, July 28th. They set a "buy" rating and a $28.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $36.00 price objective on shares of Surgery Partners in a research report on Tuesday.

Surgery Partners Price Performance

NASDAQ:SGRY opened at $20.32 on Friday. Surgery Partners has a 52 week low of $18.87 and a 52 week high of $33.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.78, a current ratio of 1.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. The company has a market capitalization of $2.61 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.21 and a beta of 1.83. The stock's fifty day moving average is $22.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $22.22.

Surgery Partners (NASDAQ:SGRY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.01. Surgery Partners had a positive return on equity of 2.51% and a negative net margin of 5.57%.The business had revenue of $826.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $816.96 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.21 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Surgery Partners will post 0.67 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Teresa Deluca sold 20,018 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.74, for a total transaction of $455,209.32. Following the sale, the director owned 45,173 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,027,234.02. This represents a 30.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Harrison R. Bane sold 9,339 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.48, for a total value of $209,940.72. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 117,181 shares in the company, valued at $2,634,228.88. This represents a 7.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Surgery Partners

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. AlphaQuest LLC lifted its position in shares of Surgery Partners by 112.0% during the 1st quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 1,058 shares of the company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 559 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Surgery Partners by 86.4% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,169 shares of the company's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 542 shares during the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Surgery Partners during the 1st quarter worth $31,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new stake in shares of Surgery Partners during the 1st quarter worth $65,000. Finally, FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Surgery Partners during the 2nd quarter worth $115,000.

Surgery Partners Company Profile

Surgery Partners, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, owns and operates a network of surgical facilities and ancillary services in the United States. The company provides ambulatory surgery centers and surgical hospitals that offer non-emergency surgical procedures in various specialties, including orthopedics and pain management, ophthalmology, gastroenterology, and general surgery.

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