Citigroup Cuts Surgery Partners (NASDAQ:SGRY) Price Target to $38.00

Surgery Partners (NASDAQ:SGRY) had its price target lowered by investment analysts at Citigroup from $42.00 to $38.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Citigroup’s price objective points to a potential upside of 40.38% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Barclays started coverage on Surgery Partners in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $35.00 price target on the stock. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Surgery Partners in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $49.00 price objective on shares of Surgery Partners in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $43.00 target price on shares of Surgery Partners in a report 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Surgery Partners currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.13.

Surgery Partners Price Performance

Surgery Partners stock traded down $0.70 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $27.07. 1,226,479 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 925,552. The company’s fifty day moving average is $27.46 and its 200-day moving average is $29.81. 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 has a 52 week low of $22.05 and a 52 week high of $45.79. The firm has a market cap of $3.44 billion, a PE ratio of -270.40, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 2.75.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Jason Eric Evans sold 5,780 shares of Surgery Partners stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.08, for a total value of $202,762.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 419,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,702,659.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO Jason Eric Evans sold 5,780 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.08, for a total transaction of $202,762.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 419,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,702,659.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO David T. Doherty sold 1,020 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.93, for a total transaction of $35,628.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 74,209 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,592,120.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 14,664 shares of company stock worth $477,225 over the last three months. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new stake in Surgery Partners in the third quarter worth $39,000. Strs Ohio purchased a new position in Surgery Partners during the 4th quarter valued at about $51,000. Signaturefd LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Surgery Partners in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $56,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Surgery Partners by 69.7% in the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,945 shares of the company’s stock worth $86,000 after purchasing an additional 1,210 shares during the period. Finally, Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 373 shares in the last quarter.

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.