Surgery Partners’ (SGRY) “Buy” Rating Reaffirmed at Benchmark

Benchmark reissued their buy rating on shares of Surgery Partners (NASDAQ:SGRY) in a research report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $50.00 price objective on the stock.

SGRY has been the topic of several other reports. Barclays started coverage on shares of Surgery Partners in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. They issued an equal weight rating and a $35.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Surgery Partners from $43.00 to $42.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an outperform rating and issued a $49.00 price objective on shares of Surgery Partners in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an overweight rating and issued a $43.00 target price on shares of Surgery Partners in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Surgery Partners from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Surgery Partners presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $43.63.

Surgery Partners Price Performance

Shares of Surgery Partners stock opened at $24.53 on Wednesday. Surgery Partners has a 52-week low of $22.05 and a 52-week high of $45.79. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $27.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $29.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.71.

Surgery Partners (NASDAQ:SGRY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 26th. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.07. Surgery Partners had a positive return on equity of 3.65% and a negative net margin of 0.43%. The firm had revenue of $735.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $741.93 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.22 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Surgery Partners will post 0.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Surgery Partners

In other Surgery Partners news, CEO Jason Eric Evans sold 4,840 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.71, for a total transaction of $143,796.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 459,670 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,656,795.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Surgery Partners news, insider Bradley R. Owens sold 1,040 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.22, for a total transaction of $36,628.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 73,149 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,576,307.78. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jason Eric Evans sold 4,840 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.71, for a total transaction of $143,796.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 459,670 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,656,795.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 14,831 shares of company stock valued at $482,609 in the last three months. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Surgery Partners

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Surgery Partners by 38.7% during the first quarter. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,151 shares of the company’s stock valued at $273,000 after buying an additional 2,551 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in shares of Surgery Partners by 33.7% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 421,137 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,563,000 after buying an additional 106,054 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Surgery Partners by 16.3% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 10,073 shares of the company’s stock valued at $300,000 after buying an additional 1,409 shares during the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Surgery Partners by 0.5% in the first quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 508,488 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,168,000 after purchasing an additional 2,652 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wesbanco Bank Inc. purchased a new stake in Surgery Partners in the first quarter worth approximately $766,000.

Surgery Partners Company Profile

Surgery Partners, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, owns and operates a network of surgical facilities and ancillary services in the United States. The company provides ambulatory surgery centers and surgical hospitals that offer non-emergency surgical procedures in various specialties, including orthopedics and pain management, ophthalmology, gastroenterology, and general surgery.