Brokerages Set U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. (NYSE:USPH) PT at $114.00

Shares of U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. (NYSE:USPH) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Buy” by the five ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $114.00.

Several research firms have recently issued reports on USPH. Bank of America raised shares of U.S. Physical Therapy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $100.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. JMP Securities started coverage on U.S. Physical Therapy in a report on Monday, December 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $113.00 price target for the company. Citizens Jmp upgraded U.S. Physical Therapy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on U.S. Physical Therapy from $117.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $108.00 target price on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy in a report on Thursday, November 21st.

Insider Transactions at U.S. Physical Therapy

In related news, Director Nancy Ham sold 1,172 shares of U.S. Physical Therapy stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.72, for a total value of $113,355.84. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,112 shares in the company, valued at approximately $107,552.64. The trade was a 51.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Graham D. Reeve sold 1,724 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.29, for a total transaction of $166,003.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,106 shares in the company, valued at $684,236.74. This represents a 19.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 7,412 shares of company stock valued at $706,605. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On U.S. Physical Therapy

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp raised its stake in U.S. Physical Therapy by 17.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 667,868 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,522,000 after buying an additional 99,244 shares in the last quarter. Southernsun Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 10.5% during the 3rd quarter. Southernsun Asset Management LLC now owns 547,111 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,302,000 after acquiring an additional 52,062 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 423,846 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,173,000 after acquiring an additional 10,462 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in U.S. Physical Therapy by 1.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 343,073 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,040,000 after purchasing an additional 4,477 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in U.S. Physical Therapy by 4.1% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 239,982 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,179,000 after purchasing an additional 9,434 shares during the period.

U.S. Physical Therapy Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:USPH opened at $88.57 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $92.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $88.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 94.22, a PEG ratio of 4.23 and a beta of 1.48. U.S. Physical Therapy has a 1 year low of $76.18 and a 1 year high of $113.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a current ratio of 1.78.

U.S. Physical Therapy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.99%. U.S. Physical Therapy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 187.23%.

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.