U.S. Physical Therapy (NYSE:USPH) Shares Pass Above 200-Day Moving Average of $95.00

U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. (NYSE:USPH)’s share price passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $95.00 and traded as high as $98.38. U.S. Physical Therapy shares last traded at $97.60, with a volume of 60,739 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of U.S. Physical Therapy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Barrington Research upped their price target on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy from $120.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy from $99.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, U.S. Physical Therapy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $125.67.

U.S. Physical Therapy Stock Up 1.6 %

The company has a current ratio of 2.28, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market cap of $1.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 73.40, a PEG ratio of 4.62 and a beta of 1.39. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $104.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $95.05.

U.S. Physical Therapy (NYSE:USPH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $154.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $150.24 million. U.S. Physical Therapy had a net margin of 4.67% and a return on equity of 8.52%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.58 EPS. Research analysts forecast that U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. will post 2.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Physical Therapy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 12th were paid a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 11th. This is a boost from U.S. Physical Therapy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.78%. U.S. Physical Therapy’s dividend payout ratio is 130.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other U.S. Physical Therapy news, Director Edward L. Kuntz sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.26, for a total transaction of $260,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,780 shares in the company, valued at $602,622.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Edward L. Kuntz sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.26, for a total value of $260,650.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,780 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $602,622.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Graham D. Reeve sold 2,629 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.39, for a total transaction of $274,441.31. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 6,902 shares in the company, valued at approximately $720,499.78. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 10,829 shares of company stock worth $1,141,535. 1.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of U.S. Physical Therapy

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Cresset Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 4,236 shares of the company’s stock valued at $395,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in U.S. Physical Therapy by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 5,802 shares of the company’s stock worth $540,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. raised its position in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 12,435 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,008,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 31,940 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,488,000 after buying an additional 164 shares during the period. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors increased its holdings in U.S. Physical Therapy by 20.0% in the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,013 shares of the company’s stock valued at $111,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares during the last quarter.

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.