Russell Investments Group Ltd. Decreases Stock Holdings in U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. $USPH

Russell Investments Group Ltd. reduced its stake in U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. (NYSE:USPH) by 1.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 41,807 shares of the company’s stock after selling 596 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned 0.28% of U.S. Physical Therapy worth $3,025,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of USPH. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in U.S. Physical Therapy in the fourth quarter worth about $18,886,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in U.S. Physical Therapy in the first quarter worth about $8,702,000. Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its stake in U.S. Physical Therapy by 95.9% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 120,893 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,724,000 after buying an additional 59,190 shares in the last quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC raised its stake in U.S. Physical Therapy by 24.8% in the fourth quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 189,115 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,776,000 after buying an additional 37,523 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in U.S. Physical Therapy by 13.9% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 261,825 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,226,000 after buying an additional 32,024 shares in the last quarter.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Nancy Ham sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 $202,357.94. This represents a 13.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Graham D. Reeve sold 763 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.97, for a total transaction of $64,832.11. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 21,483 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,825,410.51. The trade was a 3.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,955 shares of company stock worth $251,170. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

U.S. Physical Therapy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE USPH opened at $87.5170 on Monday. U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $62.77 and a fifty-two week high of $101.19. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $78.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $76.75. The company has a market capitalization of $1.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.22, a P/E/G ratio of 4.47 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.18.

U.S. Physical Therapy (NYSE:USPH) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.10. U.S. Physical Therapy had a net margin of 5.05% and a return on equity of 8.78%. The business had revenue of $197.34 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $190.24 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.73 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. will post 2.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Physical Therapy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. U.S. Physical Therapy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 78.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on USPH shares. Zacks Research raised shares of U.S. Physical Therapy to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of U.S. Physical Therapy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Barrington Research raised their target price on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy from $98.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $110.25.

U.S. Physical Therapy Company 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.