U.S. Physical Therapy (NYSE:USPH) Shares Gap Down After Earnings Miss

U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. (NYSE:USPH) shares gapped down prior to trading on Thursday after the company announced weaker than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $87.72, but opened at $82.09. U.S. Physical Therapy shares last traded at $79.47, with a volume of 23,720 shares.

The company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.69 by ($0.04). U.S. Physical Therapy had a return on equity of 8.11% and a net margin of 3.54%. The company had revenue of $180.45 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $173.10 million.

U.S. Physical Therapy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. U.S. Physical Therapy’s payout ratio is 95.65%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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. Bank of America upgraded shares of U.S. Physical Therapy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $100.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of U.S. Physical Therapy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. William Blair reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy in a report on Thursday. Finally, JMP Securities started coverage on U.S. Physical Therapy in a research note on Monday, December 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $113.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, U.S. Physical Therapy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $111.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Carey P. Hendrickson sold 516 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.25, for a total transaction of $49,665.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 20,469 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,970,141.25. This represents a 2.46 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On U.S. Physical Therapy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 283.0% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 16,842 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,425,000 after buying an additional 12,445 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 57.1% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 2,631 shares of the company’s stock valued at $223,000 after purchasing an additional 956 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 17.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 667,868 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,522,000 after purchasing an additional 99,244 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 12.1% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 57,166 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,838,000 after purchasing an additional 6,154 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in U.S. Physical Therapy by 113.4% in the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 16,188 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,370,000 after buying an additional 8,604 shares during the last quarter.

U.S. Physical Therapy Trading Down 1.6 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a current ratio of 1.78. The company has a market capitalization of $1.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 86.26, a P/E/G ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $88.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $87.67.

About U.S. Physical Therapy

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.