Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 1,873 Shares of U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. (NYSE:USPH)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. (NYSE:USPH) by 2.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 84,964 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,873 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.56% of U.S. Physical Therapy worth $6,148,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its stake in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 6.9% during the first quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 57,381 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,152,000 after acquiring an additional 3,710 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 35.0% during the 1st quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,929 shares of the company’s stock valued at $140,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in U.S. Physical Therapy by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 4,929 shares of the company’s stock worth $357,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in U.S. Physical Therapy by 15.7% during the first quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 25,588 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,852,000 after buying an additional 3,464 shares during the period. Finally, Precision Wealth Strategies LLC grew its stake in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 6.6% during the first quarter. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 3,054 shares of the company’s stock valued at $221,000 after buying an additional 189 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on USPH. Wall Street Zen upgraded U.S. Physical Therapy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $113.00 price target on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy from $120.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $98.00 price objective on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $109.00.

U.S. Physical Therapy Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of U.S. Physical Therapy stock opened at $73.76 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $62.77 and a 12-month high of $101.20. The company has a market cap of $1.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.83, a PEG ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 1.44. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $76.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $78.73.

U.S. Physical Therapy (NYSE:USPH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.02. U.S. Physical Therapy had a net margin of 4.57% and a return on equity of 7.89%. The company had revenue of $183.79 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $176.78 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.51 earnings per share. U.S. Physical Therapy’s quarterly revenue was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. will post 2.67 EPS for the current year.

U.S. Physical Therapy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Friday, May 23rd were given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.44%. U.S. Physical Therapy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 82.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Nancy Ham sold 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.01, for a total transaction of $31,204.00. Following the sale, the director owned 2,594 shares in the company, valued at approximately $202,357.94. The trade was a 13.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.