Acadia Healthcare (NASDAQ:ACHC) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Acadia Healthcare Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACHC)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $39.84, but opened at $42.24. Acadia Healthcare shares last traded at $42.16, with a volume of 242,188 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on ACHC. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Acadia Healthcare from $94.00 to $64.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Barclays decreased their price target on Acadia Healthcare from $76.00 to $43.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. StockNews.com downgraded Acadia Healthcare from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $52.00 target price on shares of Acadia Healthcare in a report on Tuesday. Finally, KeyCorp started coverage on Acadia Healthcare in a report on Friday, October 11th. They set a “sector weight” rating on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $75.44.

Acadia Healthcare Stock Up 0.8 %

The firm has a market cap of $3.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.29. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $45.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $61.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.07.

Acadia Healthcare (NASDAQ:ACHC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.01. Acadia Healthcare had a return on equity of 11.12% and a net margin of 8.99%. The business had revenue of $815.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $819.42 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.91 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Acadia Healthcare Company, Inc. will post 3.38 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Acadia Healthcare

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. TCW Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Acadia Healthcare by 63.8% during the second quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 62,888 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,247,000 after purchasing an additional 24,487 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of Acadia Healthcare by 435.6% in the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 18,227 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,231,000 after acquiring an additional 14,824 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Acadia Healthcare by 19.4% during the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 643,521 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,463,000 after acquiring an additional 104,359 shares during the period. LMR Partners LLP purchased a new position in Acadia Healthcare in the third quarter worth $1,616,000. Finally, Texas Permanent School Fund Corp grew its stake in Acadia Healthcare by 11.3% in the 2nd quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 89,821 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,067,000 after purchasing an additional 9,115 shares during the period.

About Acadia Healthcare

Acadia Healthcare Company, Inc provides behavioral healthcare services in the United States and Puerto Rico. The company develops and operates acute inpatient psychiatric facilities, specialty treatment facilities comprising residential recovery facilities and eating disorder facilities, comprehensive treatment centers, and residential treatment centers, as well as facilities offering outpatient behavioral healthcare services for the behavioral healthcare and recovery needs of communities.