Select Medical (NYSE:SEM) Receives Buy Rating from Benchmark

Benchmark restated their buy rating on shares of Select Medical (NYSE:SEM) in a research report sent to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $39.00 price target on the health services provider’s stock.

Separately, StockNews.com raised Select Medical from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Select Medical presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $34.80.

Select Medical Stock Performance

SEM opened at $32.11 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.29, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.38. Select Medical has a 1-year low of $21.28 and a 1-year high of $33.51. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $28.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $26.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.30, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 1.22.

Select Medical (NYSE:SEM) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 23rd. The health services provider reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. Select Medical had a net margin of 3.97% and a return on equity of 18.11%. Select Medical’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.22 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Select Medical will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Select Medical Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.56%. Select Medical’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.81%.

Insider Activity at Select Medical

In other news, Chairman Robert A. Ortenzio sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.00, for a total transaction of $1,300,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 6,789,668 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $176,531,368. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 19.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SEM. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Select Medical during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,320,000. Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in Select Medical by 1,015.2% during the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 553,306 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $13,982,000 after acquiring an additional 503,692 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Select Medical by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,347,798 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $290,173,000 after acquiring an additional 342,496 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Select Medical by 450.9% in the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 309,273 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $9,325,000 after acquiring an additional 253,134 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Select Medical by 15.7% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,739,361 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $40,875,000 after purchasing an additional 235,964 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.48% of the company’s stock.

Select Medical Company Profile

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.