U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. (NYSE:USPH) Short Interest Down 15.7% in March

by · The Markets Daily

U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. (NYSE:USPH – Get Free Report) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 454,200 shares, a decrease of 15.7% from the February 28th total of 538,500 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 105,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.3 days. Currently, 3.1% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America raised shares of U.S. Physical Therapy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $100.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Barrington Research dropped their price target on U.S. Physical Therapy from $108.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. JMP Securities initiated coverage on U.S. Physical Therapy in a report on Monday, December 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $113.00 price target on the stock. William Blair restated a “market perform” rating on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of U.S. Physical Therapy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $109.00.

Read Our Latest Stock Report on USPH

Insider Activity

In other U.S. Physical Therapy 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 value of $142,050.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 7,168 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $588,564.48. The trade was a 19.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 4,833 shares of the company’s stock worth $429,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 59.8% in the fourth quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. Albert D Mason Inc. boosted its stake in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Albert D Mason Inc. now owns 10,596 shares of the company’s stock worth $940,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 16,344 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,450,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aquatic Capital Management LLC boosted its position in U.S. Physical Therapy by 18.0% during the fourth quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC now owns 1,298 shares of the company’s stock worth $115,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the period.

U.S. Physical Therapy Price Performance

Shares of U.S. Physical Therapy stock traded up $0.10 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $72.48. The stock had a trading volume of 95,922 shares, compared to its average volume of 103,371. U.S. Physical Therapy has a fifty-two week low of $69.99 and a fifty-two week high of $112.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 1.78. The firm has a market cap of $1.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 77.11, a PEG ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 1.37. The business has a fifty day moving average of $82.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $86.44.

U.S. Physical Therapy (NYSE:USPH – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.65 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $180.45 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $173.10 million. On average, sell-side analysts expect that U.S. Physical Therapy will post 2.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Physical Therapy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. This is an increase from U.S. Physical Therapy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.48%. U.S. Physical Therapy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 97.83%.

U.S. Physical Therapy Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

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