U.S. Physical Therapy (NYSE:USPH) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to "Hold"

Key Points

• U.S. Physical Therapy has been downgraded from a "buy" to a "hold" rating by Wall Street Zen, while other analysts maintain more favorable ratings.
• The company's stock has shown a significant price range over the past year, with a low of $62.77 and a high of $101.19, currently trading at $78.44.
• U.S. Physical Therapy reported better-than-expected earnings of $0.81 per share for the last quarter, surpassing the consensus estimate by 10 cents.

Wall Street Zen cut shares of U.S. Physical Therapy (NYSE:USPH - Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Sunday.

USPH has been the subject of several other research reports. Zacks Research upgraded U.S. Physical Therapy to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Barrington Research upped their target price on U.S. Physical Therapy from $98.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on U.S. Physical Therapy in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $110.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $110.25.

U.S. Physical Therapy Price Performance

Shares of USPH traded down $0.45 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $79.42. The stock had a trading volume of 25,846 shares, compared to its average volume of 141,777. The company has a market capitalization of $1.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 1.47. U.S. Physical Therapy has a 12-month low of $62.77 and a 12-month high of $101.19. The company's 50-day moving average is $80.33 and its 200 day moving average is $76.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

U.S. Physical Therapy (NYSE:USPH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.10. U.S. Physical Therapy had a return on equity of 8.78% and a net margin of 5.05%.The business had revenue of $197.34 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $190.24 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.73 EPS. U.S. Physical Therapy's quarterly revenue was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that U.S. Physical Therapy will post 2.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Physical Therapy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 12th. Investors of record on Friday, August 22nd were given a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 22nd. U.S. Physical Therapy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 78.60%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Carey P. Hendrickson sold 698 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.11, for a total transaction of $60,104.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 27,808 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,394,546.88. This trade represents a 2.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Eric Joseph Williams sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.25, for a total transaction of $85,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 25,331 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,159,467.75. This represents a 3.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 6,853 shares of company stock worth $581,406. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in U.S. Physical Therapy by 952.4% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 442 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. grew its holdings in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 171.8% during the second quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 443 shares of the company's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in U.S. Physical Therapy by 90.6% in the second quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 448 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in U.S. Physical Therapy by 35.7% in the second quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 570 shares of the company's stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Huntington National Bank boosted its holdings in U.S. Physical Therapy by 71.9% in the second quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 667 shares of the company's stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares during the last quarter.

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.