Park Avenue Securities LLC Invests $481,000 in U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. $USPH

Park Avenue Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. (NYSE:USPH) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 6,154 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $481,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in USPH. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy during the 1st quarter worth approximately $8,702,000. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. boosted its position in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 32.6% during the 1st quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 345,003 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,964,000 after purchasing an additional 84,878 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP boosted its position in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 228.0% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 82,419 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,964,000 after purchasing an additional 57,293 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its position in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 249.3% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 49,309 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,568,000 after purchasing an additional 35,191 shares during the period. Finally, 4D Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy during the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,533,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on USPH shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $110.00 price objective for the company. Barrington Research increased their price objective on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy from $98.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of U.S. Physical Therapy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, September 21st. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of U.S. Physical Therapy to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. One equities research 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $110.25.

U.S. Physical Therapy Price Performance

U.S. Physical Therapy stock opened at $83.34 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.18 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $81.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $76.53. U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $62.77 and a 12-month high of $101.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

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

U.S. Physical Therapy Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Graham D. Reeve sold 763 shares of U.S. Physical Therapy stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 21,483 shares in the company, valued at $1,825,410.51. This trade represents a 3.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Carey P. Hendrickson sold 698 shares of U.S. Physical Therapy stock in a transaction on Monday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.11, for a total transaction of $60,104.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 27,808 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,394,546.88. This represents a 2.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 6,853 shares of company stock worth $581,406 over the last three months. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

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.