U.S. Physical Therapy (NYSE:USPH) Shares Gap Up – What’s Next?

U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. (NYSE:USPH) shares gapped up prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $93.46, but opened at $96.21. U.S. Physical Therapy shares last traded at $95.81, with a volume of 9,871 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

USPH has been the subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of U.S. Physical Therapy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. JMP Securities began coverage on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy in a report on Monday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $113.00 price target on the stock. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $108.00 price objective on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy in a report on Thursday, November 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on U.S. Physical Therapy from $117.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Bank of America upgraded U.S. Physical Therapy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $100.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $114.00.

U.S. Physical Therapy Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $1.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 99.43, a P/E/G ratio of 4.23 and a beta of 1.46. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $89.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $89.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a current ratio of 1.78.

U.S. Physical Therapy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. U.S. Physical Therapy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 187.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling at U.S. Physical Therapy

In other news, Director Nancy Ham sold 1,172 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.72, for a total transaction of $113,355.84. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,112 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $107,552.64. This represents a 51.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Carey P. Hendrickson sold 516 shares of U.S. Physical Therapy stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.25, for a total transaction of $49,665.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 20,469 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,970,141.25. The trade was a 2.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 7,412 shares of company stock valued at $706,605. Corporate insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On U.S. Physical Therapy

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in USPH. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in U.S. Physical Therapy by 18.6% during the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,188 shares of the company’s stock worth $110,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in U.S. Physical Therapy by 41.4% in the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,332 shares of the company’s stock valued at $123,000 after buying an additional 390 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in U.S. Physical Therapy by 37.7% during the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 5,924 shares of the company’s stock valued at $547,000 after acquiring an additional 1,623 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in U.S. Physical Therapy by 283.0% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 16,842 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,425,000 after acquiring an additional 12,445 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 57.1% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 2,631 shares of the company’s stock worth $223,000 after acquiring an additional 956 shares in the last quarter.

U.S. Physical Therapy Company Profile

U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc operates outpatient physical therapy clinics. The company operates through Physical Therapy Operations and Industrial Injury Prevention Services segments. The company 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.