Vanguard Group Inc. Has $96.18 Million Holdings in U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. (NYSE:USPH)

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. (NYSE:USPH) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,084,197 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,393 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 7.18% of U.S. Physical Therapy worth $96,179,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bridge City Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Bridge City Capital LLC now owns 64,947 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,761,000 after buying an additional 4,235 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in U.S. Physical Therapy during the 4th quarter valued at about $257,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in U.S. Physical Therapy by 143.8% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 9,051 shares of the company’s stock valued at $803,000 after acquiring an additional 5,339 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its holdings in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 29.5% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 4,883 shares of the company’s stock valued at $433,000 after purchasing an additional 1,112 shares during the period. Finally, CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 59.8% in the fourth quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

USPH has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barrington Research lowered 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. JMP Securities started coverage on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy in a research note on Monday, December 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $113.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com raised U.S. Physical Therapy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Citizens Jmp raised U.S. Physical Therapy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded U.S. Physical Therapy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $100.00 to $115.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $109.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at U.S. Physical Therapy

In other news, COO Graham D. Reeve sold 1,730 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.11, for a total transaction of $142,050.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,168 shares in the company, valued at $588,564.48. The trade was a 19.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

U.S. Physical Therapy Price Performance

NYSE USPH opened at $70.59 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $1.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 75.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 1.38. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $79.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $85.52. U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $62.77 and a fifty-two week high of $108.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 1.78.

U.S. Physical Therapy (NYSE:USPH) last posted its earnings results 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). U.S. Physical Therapy had a return on equity of 8.11% and a net margin of 3.54%. The company had revenue of $180.45 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $173.10 million. On average, analysts anticipate that U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. will post 2.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Physical Therapy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This is a positive change from U.S. Physical Therapy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.55%. U.S. Physical Therapy’s payout ratio is currently 97.83%.

U.S. Physical Therapy 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.