CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co Reduces Stock Position in U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. (NYSE:USPH)

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co reduced its position in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. (NYSE:USPH) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,704 shares of the company’s stock after selling 247 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co’s holdings in U.S. Physical Therapy were worth $1,305,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 59.8% during the fourth quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in U.S. Physical Therapy by 3,200.0% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 726 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 704 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in U.S. Physical Therapy in the fourth quarter worth about $113,000. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in U.S. Physical Therapy in the fourth quarter worth about $203,000. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in U.S. Physical Therapy in the fourth quarter worth about $257,000.

U.S. Physical Therapy Price Performance

Shares of USPH opened at $71.07 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 75.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.78, a current ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $74.30 and a 200 day moving average of $84.40. U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $62.77 and a twelve month high of $108.14.

U.S. Physical Therapy (NYSE:USPH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.69 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $180.45 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $173.10 million. U.S. Physical Therapy had a net margin of 3.54% and a return on equity of 8.11%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. will post 2.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Physical Therapy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.53%. This is an increase from U.S. Physical Therapy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. U.S. Physical Therapy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 97.83%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

USPH has been the subject of several research analyst reports. William Blair restated a “market perform” rating on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Barrington Research lowered their price objective on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy from $108.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy from $120.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of U.S. Physical Therapy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $113.00 target price on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, U.S. Physical Therapy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $109.00.

Insider Activity at U.S. Physical Therapy

In other news, COO Graham D. Reeve sold 1,730 shares of U.S. Physical Therapy stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.11, for a total transaction of $142,050.30. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 7,168 shares in the company, valued at $588,564.48. This trade represents a 19.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.