U.S. Physical Therapy (NYSE:USPH) Hits New 1-Year Low – Should You Sell?

Shares of U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. (NYSE:USPH) reached a new 52-week low during trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $71.90 and last traded at $72.83, with a volume of 429 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $72.79.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on USPH shares. Bank of America raised shares of U.S. Physical Therapy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $100.00 to $115.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. William Blair reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Citizens Jmp raised U.S. Physical Therapy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Barrington Research decreased their target price on U.S. Physical Therapy from $108.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on U.S. Physical Therapy from $120.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, U.S. Physical Therapy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $109.00.

U.S. Physical Therapy Trading Down 0.5 %

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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $84.23 and a 200 day moving average of $86.83. The firm has a market cap of $1.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 77.94, a PEG ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 1.51.

U.S. Physical Therapy (NYSE:USPH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $180.45 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 predict that U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. will post 2.67 EPS for the current year.

U.S. Physical Therapy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. This is a boost 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 2.46%. U.S. Physical Therapy’s dividend payout ratio is 97.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Graham D. Reeve sold 1,730 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.11, for a total transaction of $142,050.30. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,168 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $588,564.48. This trade represents a 19.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On U.S. Physical Therapy

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in U.S. Physical Therapy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $18,886,000. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. increased its stake in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 135.4% in the fourth quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 260,125 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,076,000 after buying an additional 149,622 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 17.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 667,868 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,522,000 after buying an additional 99,244 shares during the period. Copeland Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in U.S. Physical Therapy by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 839,356 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,459,000 after buying an additional 72,715 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in U.S. Physical Therapy during the 4th quarter valued at $6,240,000.

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.