Select Medical (NYSE:SEM) Cut to “Strong Sell” at Zacks Research

Zacks Research lowered shares of Select Medical (NYSE:SEM) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a report released on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other analysts have also commented on SEM. Mizuho set a $17.00 price target on shares of Select Medical in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Weiss Ratings upgraded Select Medical from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on Select Medical from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Select Medical from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $16.25.

Select Medical Price Performance

Shares of SEM opened at $14.94 on Thursday. Select Medical has a fifty-two week low of $11.65 and a fifty-two week high of $18.60. The company has a market capitalization of $1.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.25. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $15.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $14.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04.

Select Medical (NYSE:SEM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 19th. The health services provider reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.23 by ($0.07). Select Medical had a return on equity of 7.26% and a net margin of 2.68%.The business had revenue of $1.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.36 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.18 earnings per share. Select Medical’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. Select Medical has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.220-1.320 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Select Medical will post 1.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Select Medical announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, February 19th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the health services provider to repurchase up to 49.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Select Medical Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 2nd will be paid a $0.0625 dividend. This represents a $0.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 2nd. Select Medical’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.74%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Select Medical

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in shares of Select Medical by 8.5% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 95,771 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $1,599,000 after buying an additional 7,502 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Select Medical by 96.6% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 33,894 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $566,000 after acquiring an additional 16,656 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in Select Medical by 4.6% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 64,400 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $1,075,000 after acquiring an additional 2,809 shares during the period. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Select Medical in the 1st quarter worth about $220,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Select Medical by 25.3% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 728,689 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $12,169,000 after purchasing an additional 147,183 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.48% of the company’s stock.

About Select Medical

Select Medical is a leading provider of specialized healthcare services in the United States, operating through two primary business segments: Hospital Division and Outpatient Rehabilitation Division. The Hospital Division offers long-term acute care (LTAC) hospitals and inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs) that serve patients recovering from complex illnesses, trauma or surgery. The Outpatient Rehabilitation Division delivers physical, occupational and speech therapy services through a network of clinic locations and home-based care programs.

Headquartered in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, Select Medical was founded in 1996 and has grown through strategic partnerships, joint ventures and acquisitions.