Encompass Health Co. (EHC) To Go Ex-Dividend on April 1st

Encompass Health Co. (NYSE:EHC) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 20th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be given a dividend of 0.17 per share on Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st.

Encompass Health has decreased its dividend payment by an average of 17.0% per year over the last three years. Encompass Health has a dividend payout ratio of 12.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Encompass Health to earn $5.28 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.68 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 12.9%.

Encompass Health Trading Down 2.5 %

Shares of Encompass Health stock opened at $97.42 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $9.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.84, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. Encompass Health has a 12-month low of $73.68 and a 12-month high of $104.55. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $95.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $95.81.

Encompass Health (NYSE:EHC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.12. Encompass Health had a net margin of 8.48% and a return on equity of 17.56%. On average, analysts forecast that Encompass Health will post 4.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Encompass Health news, CAO Andrew L. Price sold 5,042 shares of Encompass Health stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.29, for a total transaction of $495,578.18. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 69,164 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,798,129.56. The trade was a 6.79 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on EHC. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Encompass Health from $117.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Encompass Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 15th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $110.00 price objective on shares of Encompass Health in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Encompass Health from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Encompass Health in a report on Friday, February 7th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $107.67.

About Encompass Health

Encompass Health Corporation provides post-acute healthcare services in the United States and Puerto Rico. It owns and operates inpatient rehabilitation hospitals that provide medical, nursing, therapy, and ancillary services. The company provides specialized rehabilitative treatment on an inpatient basis to patients who have experienced physical or cognitive disabilities or injuries due to medical conditions, such as strokes, hip fractures, and various debilitating neurological conditions.