Encompass Health Co. (NYSE:EHC) Receives Average Rating of “Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Encompass Health Co. (NYSE:EHC) have received a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the nine brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $120.86.

Several analysts recently commented on EHC shares. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $135.00 target price (up previously from $116.00) on shares of Encompass Health in a report on Monday, April 28th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Encompass Health from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. StockNews.com cut Encompass Health from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Encompass Health in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price objective on Encompass Health from $120.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th.

Encompass Health Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE:EHC opened at $116.73 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $101.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $99.26. Encompass Health has a fifty-two week low of $82.74 and a fifty-two week high of $117.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.76 billion, a PE ratio of 26.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.91.

Encompass Health (NYSE:EHC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $1.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.43 billion. Encompass Health had a return on equity of 17.56% and a net margin of 8.48%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.12 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Encompass Health will post 4.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Encompass Health Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 1st will be given a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 1st. Encompass Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.05%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP John Patrick Darby sold 10,000 shares of Encompass Health stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $114.79, for a total transaction of $1,147,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 79,710 shares in the company, valued at $9,149,910.90. This trade represents a 11.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Andrew L. Price sold 5,042 shares of Encompass Health stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.29, for a total value of $495,578.18. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 69,164 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,798,129.56. This trade represents a 6.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its holdings in Encompass Health by 87.8% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 293 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC purchased a new position in Encompass Health during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Transce3nd LLC bought a new stake in Encompass Health in the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Encompass Health by 38.7% in the 4th quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 455 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tompkins Financial Corp purchased a new position in shares of Encompass Health in the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.25% of the company’s stock.

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.