U.S. Physical Therapy (NYSE:USPH) Now Covered by Analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy (NYSE:USPH) in a report issued on Thursday morning, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage issued an overweight rating and a $110.00 target price on the stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded U.S. Physical Therapy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 13th. Zacks Research raised U.S. Physical Therapy to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Barrington Research lifted their target price on U.S. Physical Therapy from $98.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, U.S. Physical Therapy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $110.25.

U.S. Physical Therapy Trading Up 1.9%

Shares of U.S. Physical Therapy stock opened at $80.38 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.10, a P/E/G ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 1.47. U.S. Physical Therapy has a 52-week low of $62.77 and a 52-week high of $101.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.18. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $80.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $76.49.

U.S. Physical Therapy (NYSE:USPH) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $197.34 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $190.24 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.73 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that U.S. Physical Therapy will post 2.67 EPS for the current year.

U.S. Physical Therapy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 22nd were issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. U.S. Physical Therapy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 78.60%.

Insider Activity at U.S. Physical Therapy

In other news, Director Nancy Ham sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.71, for a total transaction of $49,026.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 1,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $162,929.74. The trade was a 23.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Christopher J. Reading sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.53, for a total transaction of $167,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 114,088 shares in the company, valued at $9,529,770.64. This represents a 1.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 6,853 shares of company stock valued at $581,406 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On U.S. Physical Therapy

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of USPH. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in U.S. Physical Therapy by 952.4% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 442 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 90.6% in the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 448 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. boosted its stake in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 171.8% in the 2nd quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 443 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 35.7% during the 2nd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 570 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Huntington National Bank raised its position in U.S. Physical Therapy by 71.9% in the 2nd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 667 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares during the period.

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.