Empirical Finance LLC Acquires Shares of 5,657 Encompass Health Corporation $EHC

Empirical Finance LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Encompass Health Corporation (NYSE:EHC) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 5,657 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $572,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in EHC. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Encompass Health during the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd acquired a new position in Encompass Health in the 2nd quarter worth $36,000. Keating Financial Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in Encompass Health in the 2nd quarter valued at about $39,000. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in shares of Encompass Health by 89.6% during the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 455 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its stake in shares of Encompass Health by 36,200.0% during the third quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 363 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 362 shares in the last quarter. 97.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EHC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Encompass Health from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Encompass Health from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Encompass Health from $140.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen cut Encompass Health from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 5th. Finally, Leerink Partners set a $152.00 price target on shares of Encompass Health in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Encompass Health presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $146.83.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Encompass Health news, CEO Mark J. Tarr sold 173,148 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.47, for a total transaction of $21,724,879.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 267,814 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,602,622.58. This represents a 39.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP John Darby sold 8,906 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.95, for a total transaction of $1,121,710.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 75,041 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,451,413.95. The trade was a 10.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 186,912 shares of company stock valued at $23,434,845. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Encompass Health Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of Encompass Health stock opened at $120.95 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $116.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $107.94. Encompass Health Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $92.77 and a fifty-two week high of $127.99. The firm has a market cap of $11.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76.

Encompass Health (NYSE:EHC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.07. Encompass Health had a return on equity of 18.08% and a net margin of 10.01%.The company had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.40 EPS. Encompass Health’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Encompass Health has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.020-6.250 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Encompass Health Corporation will post 6.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Encompass Health Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. This is a boost from Encompass Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 1st. Encompass Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.38%.

Encompass Health Profile

Encompass Health Corporation (NYSE:EHC) is a provider of post-acute healthcare services in the United States. The company operates inpatient rehabilitation hospitals that care for patients recovering from illness, injury, surgery or other medical conditions requiring intensive rehabilitation.

Its rehabilitation programs commonly serve patients recovering from strokes, brain and spinal cord injuries, neurological disorders, cardiac and pulmonary conditions, hip fractures, amputations and other orthopedic conditions.