Encompass Health Co. (NYSE:EHC) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Encompass Health Co. (NYSE:EHC) saw a significant drop in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,020,000 shares, a drop of 15.7% from the October 15th total of 1,210,000 shares. Approximately 1.0% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 599,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.7 days.

Encompass Health Stock Up 0.4 %

EHC stock traded up $0.38 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $99.23. 191,311 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 639,434. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. Encompass Health has a 1-year low of $63.78 and a 1-year high of $104.55. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $96.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $90.35. The company has a market cap of $10.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.88.

Encompass Health (NYSE:EHC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.09. Encompass Health had a net margin of 8.10% and a return on equity of 17.60%. The company had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.33 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.86 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Encompass Health will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Encompass Health Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. Encompass Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.43%.

Encompass Health declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, July 24th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 5.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Encompass Health

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of EHC. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in shares of Encompass Health by 37.4% during the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 9,521 shares of the company’s stock worth $786,000 after acquiring an additional 2,592 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its position in shares of Encompass Health by 10.6% during the first quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 6,410 shares of the company’s stock worth $529,000 after acquiring an additional 616 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Encompass Health by 23.4% during the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,738 shares of the company’s stock worth $639,000 after acquiring an additional 1,467 shares during the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System grew its position in shares of Encompass Health by 4.2% during the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 100,216 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,276,000 after acquiring an additional 4,005 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Encompass Health by 1.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,166,147 shares of the company’s stock worth $839,520,000 after acquiring an additional 169,113 shares during the last quarter. 97.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on EHC. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective on shares of Encompass Health in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Encompass Health from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Encompass Health from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $116.00 target price (up previously from $108.00) on shares of Encompass Health in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Encompass Health from $109.00 to $116.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Encompass Health currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $107.11.

Encompass Health Company Profile

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.