Surgery Partners (NASDAQ:SGRY) Cut to “Strong Sell” at Zacks Research

Zacks Research cut shares of Surgery Partners (NASDAQ:SGRY) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a research report released on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on SGRY. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on Surgery Partners from $31.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Barclays cut their target price on Surgery Partners from $18.00 to $14.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. TD Cowen cut their target price on Surgery Partners from $28.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Surgery Partners in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Surgery Partners in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.36.

Surgery Partners Price Performance

Shares of SGRY opened at $12.94 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.71 and a current ratio of 1.87. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $13.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $16.47. Surgery Partners has a 52-week low of $11.41 and a 52-week high of $24.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.67 billion, a PE ratio of -20.87 and a beta of 1.99.

Surgery Partners (NASDAQ:SGRY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 2nd. The company reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.31 by ($0.19). Surgery Partners had a negative net margin of 2.35% and a positive return on equity of 1.28%. The business had revenue of $885.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $866.54 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.44 earnings per share. Surgery Partners’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Surgery Partners will post 0.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Surgery Partners announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, February 26th that permits the company to repurchase $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 9.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Surgery Partners

In other news, insider Jennifer Baldock sold 5,798 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.17, for a total transaction of $76,359.66. Following the sale, the insider owned 326,474 shares in the company, valued at $4,299,662.58. This represents a 1.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Danielle Burkhalter sold 3,469 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.83, for a total value of $44,507.27. Following the sale, the insider owned 76,864 shares in the company, valued at approximately $986,165.12. This represents a 4.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 96,896 shares of company stock worth $1,284,058. Insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Surgery Partners

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in shares of Surgery Partners by 313.1% during the 3rd quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,227 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 930 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its stake in shares of Surgery Partners by 45,640.0% during the 3rd quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 2,287 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 2,282 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Surgery Partners by 128.4% during the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,702 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 1,519 shares in the last quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Surgery Partners during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $121,000. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue bought a new stake in shares of Surgery Partners during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $151,000.

About Surgery Partners

Surgery Partners, Inc operates as a healthcare services provider specializing in the management and ownership of ambulatory surgery centers, surgical hospitals and multispecialty rehabilitation hospitals across the United States. Through its network of facilities, the company coordinates and delivers a broad range of outpatient surgical procedures in specialties such as orthopedics, ophthalmology, otolaryngology, gastroenterology, pain management and general surgery. Its integrated platform offers ancillary services including on-site imaging, laboratory testing, infusion therapy and physical, occupational and speech rehabilitation.

Since its establishment in 2010 and subsequent public listing in 2015, Surgery Partners has focused on strategic partnerships with physicians and health systems to expand access to cost-effective outpatient care.