U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. (NYSE:USPH) Shares Purchased by Benjamin Edwards Inc.

Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its stake in U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. (NYSE:USPH) by 17.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,692 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 251 shares during the quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in U.S. Physical Therapy were worth $158,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy in the third quarter valued at about $82,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC acquired a new stake in U.S. Physical Therapy in the 3rd quarter worth about $232,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in U.S. Physical Therapy by 9,269.0% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,717 shares of the company’s stock worth $253,000 after buying an additional 2,688 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in U.S. Physical Therapy by 47.2% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 2,773 shares of the company’s stock worth $257,000 after buying an additional 889 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Channing Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy during the third quarter valued at approximately $286,000.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

USPH has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com raised U.S. Physical Therapy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on U.S. Physical Therapy from $99.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, Barrington Research upped their target price on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy from $120.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, U.S. Physical Therapy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $125.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at U.S. Physical Therapy

In other news, CFO Carey P. Hendrickson sold 1,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.28, for a total transaction of $193,104.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 21,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,272,834.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, COO Graham D. Reeve sold 2,629 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.39, for a total value of $274,441.31. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 6,902 shares in the company, valued at approximately $720,499.78. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Carey P. Hendrickson sold 1,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.28, for a total transaction of $193,104.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 21,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,272,834.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 10,829 shares of company stock worth $1,141,535 in the last ninety days. 1.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

U.S. Physical Therapy Price Performance

NYSE:USPH opened at $105.20 on Friday. U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. has a one year low of $78.08 and a one year high of $124.11. The stock has a market cap of $1.59 billion, a PE ratio of 77.93, a P/E/G ratio of 4.99 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a current ratio of 2.28. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $105.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $96.01.

U.S. Physical Therapy (NYSE:USPH) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.02. U.S. Physical Therapy had a return on equity of 8.52% and a net margin of 4.67%. The company had revenue of $154.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $150.24 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.58 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. will post 2.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Physical Therapy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 12th were paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 11th. This is an increase from U.S. Physical Therapy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.67%. U.S. Physical Therapy’s payout ratio is 130.37%.

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.