Select Medical (NYSE:SEM) Trading Up 8.8% Following Dividend Announcement

Select Medical Holdings Co. (NYSE:SEM)’s share price was up 8.8% during mid-day trading on Friday after the company announced a dividend. The stock traded as high as $31.32 and last traded at $30.96. Approximately 693,586 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 23% from the average daily volume of 562,830 shares. The stock had previously closed at $28.45.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.59%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. Select Medical’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.81%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on SEM. StockNews.com raised Select Medical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $39.00 target price on shares of Select Medical in a research report on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $34.40.

Select Medical Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $4.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.97, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.38. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $28.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01.

Select Medical (NYSE:SEM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 23rd. The health services provider reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.05. Select Medical had a return on equity of 18.45% and a net margin of 3.97%. The company had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.22 earnings per share. Select Medical’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Select Medical Holdings Co. will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Select Medical

In other news, Chairman Robert A. Ortenzio sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.00, for a total value of $1,300,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 6,789,668 shares in the company, valued at $176,531,368. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 19.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp acquired a new position in Select Medical in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new stake in Select Medical during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Select Medical during the 1st quarter worth $47,000. Covestor Ltd grew its position in shares of Select Medical by 74.9% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 4,292 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $108,000 after buying an additional 1,838 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CI Investments Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Select Medical in the 3rd quarter valued at $147,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.48% of the company’s stock.

Select Medical Company Profile

Select Medical Holdings Corporation, through its subsidiaries, operates critical illness recovery hospitals, rehabilitation hospitals, outpatient rehabilitation clinics, and occupational health centers in the United States. It operates in four segments: Critical Illness Recovery Hospital, Rehabilitation Hospital, Outpatient Rehabilitation, and Concentra.