Encompass Health Co. (NYSE:EHC) Short Interest Update

Encompass Health Co. (NYSE:EHC) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,670,000 shares, a decline of 6.7% from the May 31st total of 1,790,000 shares. Currently, 1.7% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 637,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.6 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Elissa Joy Charbonneau sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.02, for a total value of $850,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 18,594 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,580,861.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Elissa Joy Charbonneau sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.02, for a total value of $850,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 18,594 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,580,861.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP John Patrick Darby sold 14,543 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.94, for a total value of $1,220,739.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 84,773 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,115,845.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 69,519 shares of company stock valued at $5,816,091 over the last three months. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EHC. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Encompass Health in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $111,000. Stifel Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Encompass Health by 1.7% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 48,478 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,256,000 after purchasing an additional 792 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its position in shares of Encompass Health by 13.3% during the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 15,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,034,000 after purchasing an additional 1,803 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its position in shares of Encompass Health by 0.5% during the third quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 48,339 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,246,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares during the period. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Encompass Health by 8.1% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 6,459 shares of the company’s stock valued at $434,000 after purchasing an additional 482 shares during the period. 97.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Encompass Health Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of EHC stock opened at $86.07 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $85.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $77.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.37. Encompass Health has a twelve month low of $57.55 and a twelve month high of $87.94. The company has a market capitalization of $8.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.26, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.89.

Encompass Health (NYSE:EHC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The company reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.27 billion. Encompass Health had a return on equity of 18.01% and a net margin of 7.60%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.88 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Encompass Health will post 4.1 EPS for the current year.

Encompass Health Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 1st will be given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 1st. Encompass Health’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Mizuho raised their price objective on Encompass Health from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Encompass Health from $83.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Barclays raised their price objective on Encompass Health from $101.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $95.00 price objective (up from $85.00) on shares of Encompass Health in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $94.00 price objective on shares of Encompass Health in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Encompass Health presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $93.29.

About Encompass Health

Encompass Health Corporation provides post-acute healthcare services in the United States and Puerto Rico. It owns and operates inpatient rehabilitation hospitals that provide medical, nursing, therapy, and ancillary services. The company provides specialized rehabilitative treatment on an inpatient basis to patients who have experienced physical or cognitive disabilities or injuries due to medical conditions, such as strokes, hip fractures, and various debilitating neurological conditions.