U.S. Physical Therapy (NYSE:USPH) Sees Large Volume Increase - Still a Buy?

Shares of U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. (NYSE:USPH - Get Free Report) saw an uptick in trading volume on Thursday . 321,378 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 179% from the previous session's volume of 115,393 shares.The stock last traded at $77.96 and had previously closed at $78.16.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $113.00 target price on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Barrington Research decreased their price target on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy from $108.00 to $98.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of U.S. Physical Therapy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. William Blair reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy from $120.00 to $110.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $109.00.

U.S. Physical Therapy Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 1.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 82.00, a PEG ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 1.45. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $73.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $81.42.

U.S. Physical Therapy (NYSE:USPH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.02. U.S. Physical Therapy had a net margin of 3.54% and a return on equity of 8.11%. The business had revenue of $183.79 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $176.78 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.51 earnings per share. U.S. Physical Therapy's revenue was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. will post 2.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Physical Therapy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Friday, May 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.34%. U.S. Physical Therapy's payout ratio is 82.57%.

Insider Activity at U.S. Physical Therapy

In other news, Director Nancy Ham sold 400 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.01, for a total transaction of $31,204.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 2,594 shares in the company, valued at approximately $202,357.94. This trade represents a 13.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 2.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On U.S. Physical Therapy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,084,197 shares of the company's stock valued at $96,179,000 after purchasing an additional 6,393 shares during the last quarter. Southernsun Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in U.S. Physical Therapy by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Southernsun Asset Management LLC now owns 571,809 shares of the company's stock worth $50,725,000 after acquiring an additional 24,698 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 426,298 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,818,000 after purchasing an additional 7,890 shares during the last quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. boosted its stake in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 32.6% in the 1st quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 345,003 shares of the company's stock valued at $24,964,000 after purchasing an additional 84,878 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GW&K Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 8.9% in the 1st quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 344,390 shares of the company's stock valued at $24,920,000 after purchasing an additional 28,203 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.