Kennedy Capital Management LLC Lowers Position in Encompass Health Co. (NYSE:EHC)

Kennedy Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Encompass Health Co. (NYSE:EHC) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 95,273 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,771 shares during the period. Kennedy Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.09% of Encompass Health worth $8,798,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in EHC. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its stake in Encompass Health by 2,870.0% during the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 7,336 shares of the company’s stock worth $709,000 after acquiring an additional 7,089 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Encompass Health by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 644,764 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,544,000 after purchasing an additional 4,345 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Encompass Health by 1.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,673,610 shares of the company’s stock worth $161,781,000 after buying an additional 20,547 shares during the period. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division grew its stake in shares of Encompass Health by 15.1% in the fourth quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 3,195 shares of the company’s stock valued at $295,000 after buying an additional 418 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Encompass Health during the 4th quarter valued at about $374,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.25% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Encompass Health

In related news, CAO Andrew L. Price sold 5,042 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.29, for a total value of $495,578.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 69,164 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,798,129.56. This represents a 6.79 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 2.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $110.00 price target on shares of Encompass Health in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Encompass Health from $117.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Encompass Health from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Encompass Health in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Encompass Health from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $107.67.

Encompass Health Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of Encompass Health stock opened at $102.42 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.96, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.87. Encompass Health Co. has a twelve month low of $78.53 and a twelve month high of $104.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $99.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $97.98.

Encompass Health (NYSE:EHC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.12. Encompass Health had a return on equity of 17.56% and a net margin of 8.48%. Equities research analysts forecast that Encompass Health Co. will post 4.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Encompass Health Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be given a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. Encompass Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.25%.

Encompass Health Company 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.