Select Medical (NYSE:SEM) Upgraded to “Buy” at Benchmark

Select Medical (NYSE:SEM) was upgraded by stock analysts at Benchmark from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Monday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The brokerage presently has a $23.00 target price on the health services provider’s stock. Benchmark’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 30.50% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on SEM. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Select Medical from $40.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Select Medical from $40.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Select Medical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Select Medical currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $33.25.

Select Medical Trading Down 7.5 %

Shares of SEM opened at $17.63 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $19.09 and a 200 day moving average of $27.91. Select Medical has a fifty-two week low of $16.20 and a fifty-two week high of $40.98. The firm has a market cap of $2.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.13.

Select Medical (NYSE:SEM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The health services provider reported $0.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.29 by ($0.11). Select Medical had a return on equity of 14.04% and a net margin of 3.23%. The firm had revenue of $1.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.50 billion. As a group, research analysts forecast that Select Medical will post 1.17 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Select Medical news, Director Marilyn B. Tavenner sold 32,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.09, for a total value of $674,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 22,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $463,980. The trade was a 59.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Robert G. Breighner, Jr. sold 4,989 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.95, for a total value of $99,530.55. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 30,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $605,602.20. The trade was a 14.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 19.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Select Medical

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SEM. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Select Medical in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Select Medical by 179.0% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,296 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 1,473 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of Select Medical during the third quarter valued at approximately $81,000. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in shares of Select Medical by 33.5% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 4,955 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $93,000 after buying an additional 1,244 shares during the period. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Select Medical by 47.8% during the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 6,974 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $130,000 after buying an additional 2,255 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.48% of the company’s stock.

About Select Medical

Select Medical Holdings Corporation, through its subsidiaries, operates critical illness recovery hospitals, rehabilitation hospitals, outpatient rehabilitation clinics, and occupational health centers in the United States. It operates in four segments: Critical Illness Recovery Hospital, Rehabilitation Hospital, Outpatient Rehabilitation, and Concentra.