Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Boosts Stock Position in U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. (NYSE:USPH)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lifted its holdings in U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. (NYSE:USPH) by 135.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 260,125 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 149,622 shares during the quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. owned 1.72% of U.S. Physical Therapy worth $23,076,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Albert D Mason Inc. lifted its position in U.S. Physical Therapy by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Albert D Mason Inc. now owns 10,596 shares of the company’s stock worth $940,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in U.S. Physical Therapy by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 16,344 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,450,000 after buying an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Norden Group LLC lifted its position in U.S. Physical Therapy by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 5,139 shares of the company’s stock worth $456,000 after buying an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its position in U.S. Physical Therapy by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 8,351 shares of the company’s stock worth $741,000 after buying an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its position in U.S. Physical Therapy by 25.1% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,486 shares of the company’s stock worth $126,000 after buying an additional 298 shares during the last quarter.

U.S. Physical Therapy Stock Performance

USPH stock opened at $79.46 on Wednesday. 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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $87.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $87.62. The company has a market capitalization of $1.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 84.53, a PEG ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 1.48. U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $76.18 and a 1-year high of $113.63.

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

U.S. Physical Therapy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from U.S. Physical Therapy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. U.S. Physical Therapy’s payout ratio is 97.83%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barrington Research lowered their price target on U.S. Physical Therapy from $108.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Bank of America upgraded U.S. Physical Therapy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $100.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. JMP Securities began coverage on U.S. Physical Therapy in a research report on Monday, December 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $113.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on U.S. Physical Therapy from $117.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, William Blair reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $111.50.

Insider Transactions at U.S. Physical Therapy

In related news, CFO Carey P. Hendrickson sold 516 shares of U.S. Physical Therapy stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.25, for a total transaction of $49,665.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 20,469 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,970,141.25. The trade was a 2.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

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.