GHP Investment Advisors Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Encompass Health Co. (NYSE:EHC)

GHP Investment Advisors Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Encompass Health Co. (NYSE:EHC) by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 19,487 shares of the company’s stock after selling 221 shares during the quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Encompass Health were worth $1,883,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in EHC. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its stake in Encompass Health by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 9,845 shares of the company’s stock worth $845,000 after buying an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Encompass Health by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 8,619 shares of the company’s stock worth $712,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Smith Group Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Encompass Health by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Smith Group Asset Management LLC now owns 12,070 shares of the company’s stock worth $997,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its stake in Encompass Health by 53.0% during the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 404 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Encompass Health by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 4,246 shares of the company’s stock worth $351,000 after buying an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. 97.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on EHC shares. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Encompass Health from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Encompass Health from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Leerink Partners initiated coverage on Encompass Health in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $100.00 price target for the company. UBS Group boosted their price target on Encompass Health from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, KeyCorp initiated coverage on Encompass Health in a research report on Friday, October 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $115.00 price target for the company. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $104.67.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Douglas E. Coltharp sold 12,260 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.34, for a total transaction of $1,058,528.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 136,227 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,761,839.18. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Encompass Health Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of Encompass Health stock opened at $93.46 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. The firm has a market cap of $9.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.88. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $93.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $88.31. Encompass Health Co. has a fifty-two week low of $57.55 and a fifty-two week high of $98.74.

Encompass Health (NYSE:EHC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 5th. The company reported $1.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.10. Encompass Health had a return on equity of 17.83% and a net margin of 7.88%. The business had revenue of $1.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.95 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Encompass Health Co. will post 4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Encompass Health Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 2nd. Encompass Health’s dividend payout ratio is 17.35%.

Encompass Health announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, July 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 5.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Encompass Health Profile

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.