Amedisys, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMED) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Amedisys, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMED) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eight analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $97.50.

AMED has been the topic of several recent research reports. Raymond James restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Amedisys in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Amedisys in a report on Monday. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Amedisys from $97.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 25th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Amedisys

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AMED. FIL Ltd acquired a new position in Amedisys in the fourth quarter valued at $124,085,000. Pentwater Capital Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Amedisys by 239.5% during the third quarter. Pentwater Capital Management LP now owns 1,144,000 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $106,850,000 after buying an additional 807,000 shares during the period. Westchester Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Amedisys by 269.7% during the third quarter. Westchester Capital Management LLC now owns 850,386 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $79,426,000 after buying an additional 620,386 shares during the period. Water Island Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Amedisys by 185.0% during the fourth quarter. Water Island Capital LLC now owns 710,697 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $67,559,000 after buying an additional 461,368 shares during the period. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of Amedisys by 67.7% during the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 956,780 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $164,844,000 after buying an additional 386,411 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.36% of the company’s stock.

Amedisys Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of Amedisys stock opened at $92.38 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.02 billion, a P/E ratio of -297.99, a P/E/G ratio of 4.36 and a beta of 0.86. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $93.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $93.54. Amedisys has a 1-year low of $73.10 and a 1-year high of $96.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

Amedisys (NASDAQ:AMED) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The health services provider reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.04 by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $570.79 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $566.85 million. Amedisys had a positive return on equity of 12.76% and a negative net margin of 0.44%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.16 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Amedisys will post 4.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amedisys Company Profile

Amedisys, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides healthcare services in the United States. It operates through three segments: Home Health, Hospice, and High Acuity Care. The Home Health segment offers a range of services in the homes of individuals for the recovery of patients from surgery, chronic disability, or terminal illness, as well as prevents avoidable hospital readmissions through its skilled nurses; nursing services, rehabilitation therapists specialized in physical, speech, and occupational therapy; and social workers and aides for assisting its patients.