Surgery Partners (NASDAQ:SGRY) Given “Buy” Rating at Benchmark

Benchmark reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Surgery Partners (NASDAQ:SGRY) in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. Benchmark currently has a $50.00 price target on the stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on SGRY. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an overweight rating and issued a $43.00 price objective on shares of Surgery Partners in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Surgery Partners from $38.00 to $36.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Macquarie began coverage on shares of Surgery Partners in a research report on Friday, June 28th. They set an outperform rating and a $31.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated an outperform rating and set a $49.00 target price on shares of Surgery Partners in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Surgery Partners from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $39.86.

Surgery Partners Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ SGRY opened at $32.01 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. Surgery Partners has a 52 week low of $22.05 and a 52 week high of $37.83. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $27.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 2.78.

Surgery Partners (NASDAQ:SGRY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.01. Surgery Partners had a negative net margin of 1.17% and a positive return on equity of 2.96%. The firm had revenue of $762.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $735.94 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.25 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Surgery Partners will post 0.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Surgery Partners

In other news, insider Bradley R. Owens sold 6,000 shares of Surgery Partners stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.65, for a total transaction of $165,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 72,338 shares in the company, valued at $2,000,145.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 2.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Surgery Partners

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in Surgery Partners by 1.9% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 19,494 shares of the company’s stock valued at $464,000 after purchasing an additional 359 shares during the period. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Surgery Partners by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,388 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,000 after buying an additional 373 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its position in Surgery Partners by 3.4% during the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 19,999 shares of the company’s stock valued at $476,000 after buying an additional 662 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. lifted its position in Surgery Partners by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 11,735 shares of the company’s stock valued at $375,000 after buying an additional 934 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its position in Surgery Partners by 7.8% during the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 13,588 shares of the company’s stock valued at $405,000 after buying an additional 986 shares in the last quarter.

About Surgery Partners

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.