U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. (NYSE:USPH) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Buy" by Brokerages

U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. (NYSE:USPH - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Buy" from the six research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, four have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $109.00.

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and set a $113.00 target price on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. William Blair reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Barrington Research reduced their price objective 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. StockNews.com downgraded U.S. Physical Therapy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on 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.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Graham D. Reeve sold 1,730 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.11, for a total value of $142,050.30. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,168 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $588,564.48. The trade was a 19.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of U.S. Physical Therapy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its holdings in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 112,959 shares of the company's stock worth $10,021,000 after buying an additional 2,465 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 343,073 shares of the company's stock worth $29,040,000 after acquiring an additional 4,477 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 13.6% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 4,714 shares of the company's stock valued at $399,000 after purchasing an additional 566 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 37.4% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 4,605 shares of the company's stock worth $409,000 after purchasing an additional 1,254 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Copeland Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 839,356 shares of the company's stock worth $74,459,000 after purchasing an additional 72,715 shares in the last quarter.

U.S. Physical Therapy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE USPH traded up $1.10 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $70.78. 81,078 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 107,465. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $74.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $84.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a current ratio of 1.78. U.S. Physical Therapy has a 12 month low of $62.77 and a 12 month high of $108.14. The firm has a market cap of $1.08 billion, a PE ratio of 75.30, a PEG ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 1.38.

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

U.S. Physical Therapy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change 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 97.83%.

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.