U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. (NYSE:USPH) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Key Points

• U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. (NYSE:USPH) experienced a 320.7% increase in short interest in July, with a total of 577,600 shares shorted as of July 15.
• Insider transactions revealed that Director Nancy Ham sold 400 shares at an average price of $78.01, decreasing her ownership by 13.36%.
• Despite a 4.0% decline in stock value recently, U.S. Physical Therapy reported strong quarterly earnings, with $0.48 EPS exceeding expectations and revenue up 18% year-over-year.

U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. (NYSE:USPH - Get Free Report) saw a large growth in short interest in July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totaling 577,600 shares, agrowthof320.7% from the June 30th total of 137,300 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 166,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.5 days. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 166,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.5 days.

Insider Activity at U.S. Physical Therapy

In other news, Director Nancy Ham sold 400 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.01, for a total value of $31,204.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 2,594 shares of the company's stock, valued at $202,357.94. The trade was a 13.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On U.S. Physical Therapy

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of USPH. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 27,856.8% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 12,301 shares of the company's stock worth $890,000 after acquiring an additional 12,257 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy in the 4th quarter valued at $84,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its position in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 112,959 shares of the company's stock worth $10,021,000 after purchasing an additional 2,465 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its position in U.S. Physical Therapy by 49.3% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 13,176 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,169,000 after buying an additional 4,350 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in U.S. Physical Therapy by 2.3% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 84,964 shares of the company's stock worth $6,148,000 after buying an additional 1,873 shares during the period.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and issued a $113.00 target price on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised U.S. Physical Therapy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Barrington Research restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $98.00 target price on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $109.00.

U.S. Physical Therapy Price Performance

Shares of USPH stock traded up $13.37 on Thursday, hitting $86.06. 199,281 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 140,174. U.S. Physical Therapy has a 52 week low of $62.77 and a 52 week high of $101.19. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $75.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $77.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.17. The firm has a market cap of $1.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.47, a PEG ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 1.45.

U.S. Physical Therapy (NYSE:USPH - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.10. U.S. Physical Therapy had a net margin of 4.57% and a return on equity of 7.89%. The firm had revenue of $197.34 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $190.24 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.73 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that U.S. Physical Therapy will post 2.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Physical Therapy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. U.S. Physical Therapy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.57%.

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.