U.S. Physical Therapy (NYSE:USPH) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at StockNews.com

StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy (NYSE:USPH – Get Rating) in a report released on Thursday morning. The brokerage issued a sell rating on the stock.

Separately, Barrington Research boosted their price target on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy from $107.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, February 24th.

U.S. Physical Therapy Stock Performance

Shares of USPH stock opened at $92.99 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $1.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.33, a P/E/G ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.30. U.S. Physical Therapy has a 52 week low of $73.30 and a 52 week high of $131.50. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $96.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $87.19.

U.S. Physical Therapy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 10th will be given a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 9th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.85%. This is a positive change from U.S. Physical Therapy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. U.S. Physical Therapy’s payout ratio is 76.44%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Richard Binstein sold 911 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.78, for a total value of $91,810.58. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 9,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $998,326.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Carey P. Hendrickson sold 471 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.80, for a total transaction of $45,121.80. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 14,886 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,426,078.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Richard Binstein sold 911 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.78, for a total transaction of $91,810.58. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,906 shares in the company, valued at approximately $998,326.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 4,814 shares of company stock valued at $484,853 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of U.S. Physical Therapy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in U.S. Physical Therapy by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 916 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,000 after buying an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp grew its stake in U.S. Physical Therapy by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 39,815 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,348,000 after buying an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in U.S. Physical Therapy by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 3,669 shares of the company’s stock worth $297,000 after buying an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. True North Advisors LLC grew its stake in U.S. Physical Therapy by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. True North Advisors LLC now owns 3,663 shares of the company’s stock worth $297,000 after buying an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisor Group Holdings Inc. grew its stake in U.S. Physical Therapy by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 12,435 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,008,000 after buying an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

About U.S. Physical Therapy

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U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc operates outpatient physical therapy clinics, which 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. It operates through the following segments: physical therapy operations and industrial injury prevention services.