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

U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. (NYSE:USPH) was the recipient 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 trading volume of 105,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.3 days. Approximately 3.1% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other U.S. Physical Therapy news, COO Graham D. Reeve sold 1,730 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 7,168 shares in the company, valued at approximately $588,564.48. This represents a 19.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On U.S. Physical Therapy

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new position in U.S. Physical Therapy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $356,000. Quantbot Technologies LP raised its stake in U.S. Physical Therapy by 57.6% during the 3rd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 10,876 shares of the company’s stock valued at $920,000 after purchasing an additional 3,973 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in U.S. Physical Therapy by 283.0% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 16,842 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,425,000 after purchasing an additional 12,445 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in U.S. Physical Therapy by 57.1% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 2,631 shares of the company’s stock worth $223,000 after purchasing an additional 956 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 18.8% during the 3rd quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 160,441 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,578,000 after purchasing an additional 25,393 shares during the period.

U.S. Physical Therapy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE USPH opened at $72.43 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $82.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $86.52. U.S. Physical Therapy has a 52 week low of $69.99 and a 52 week high of $113.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a current ratio of 1.78. The firm has a market cap of $1.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 77.05, a P/E/G ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 1.51.

U.S. Physical Therapy (NYSE:USPH) last announced its quarterly 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). The company had revenue of $180.45 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 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 company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.49%. This is a boost from U.S. Physical Therapy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. U.S. Physical Therapy’s dividend payout ratio is 97.83%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

USPH has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of U.S. Physical Therapy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Bank of America upgraded U.S. Physical Therapy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $100.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. StockNews.com downgraded U.S. Physical Therapy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. JMP Securities assumed coverage on U.S. Physical Therapy in a research note on Monday, December 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $113.00 price target for the company. Finally, Barrington Research cut their price objective on shares of 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. 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $109.00.

U.S. Physical Therapy Company Profile

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.