Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 147,032 Shares of Select Medical Holdings Co. (NYSE:SEM)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Select Medical Holdings Co. (NYSE:SEM) by 6.7% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,357,823 shares of the health services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 147,032 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Select Medical were worth $82,208,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Select Medical by 0.5% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 17,202,219 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $518,647,000 after buying an additional 90,604 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Select Medical by 5.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,997,891 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $391,886,000 after purchasing an additional 650,093 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Select Medical by 2.2% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,498,772 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $157,728,000 after purchasing an additional 95,578 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Select Medical by 179.5% during the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 843,528 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $29,574,000 after purchasing an additional 541,728 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its position in shares of Select Medical by 183.9% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 679,522 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $23,824,000 after purchasing an additional 440,140 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.48% of the company’s stock.

Select Medical Stock Up 1.8 %

NYSE:SEM opened at $39.27 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.42. Select Medical Holdings Co. has a twelve month low of $21.56 and a twelve month high of $40.50. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $34.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $34.40. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37.

Select Medical (NYSE:SEM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The health services provider reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.07. Select Medical had a return on equity of 15.99% and a net margin of 3.97%. The firm had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.74 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.46 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Select Medical Holdings Co. will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Select Medical Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.125 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.27%. Select Medical’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on SEM shares. Bank of America initiated coverage on Select Medical in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $42.00 price target on the stock. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $48.00 target price on shares of Select Medical in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Select Medical from $40.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Select Medical from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $40.75.

Select Medical Profile

Select Medical Holdings Corporation, through its subsidiaries, operates critical illness recovery hospitals, rehabilitation hospitals, outpatient rehabilitation clinics, and occupational health centers in the United States. It operates in four segments: Critical Illness Recovery Hospital, Rehabilitation Hospital, Outpatient Rehabilitation, and Concentra.