StockNews.com Lowers Surgery Partners (NASDAQ:SGRY) to Sell

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Surgery Partners (NASDAQ:SGRY) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note released on Wednesday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Benchmark reaffirmed a buy rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of Surgery Partners in a report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada restated an outperform rating and set a $49.00 target price on shares of Surgery Partners in a research note on Wednesday. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an overweight rating and issued a $43.00 price target on shares of Surgery Partners in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Macquarie began coverage on Surgery Partners in a research note on Friday, June 28th. They set an outperform rating and a $31.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on Surgery Partners from $38.00 to $36.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Surgery Partners presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $39.86.

Surgery Partners Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of SGRY traded down $0.24 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $29.74. 778,445 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 989,770. Surgery Partners has a 1-year low of $22.05 and a 1-year high of $37.83. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $26.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $27.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The company has a market cap of $3.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 2.78.

Surgery Partners (NASDAQ:SGRY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.01. Surgery Partners had a positive return on equity of 3.00% and a negative net margin of 1.17%. The firm had revenue of $762.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $735.94 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.25 EPS. Surgery Partners’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Surgery Partners will post 0.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Surgery Partners

In related news, insider Danielle Burkhalter sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.39, for a total transaction of $158,340.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $801,042.06. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Surgery Partners

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of SGRY. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Surgery Partners by 26.7% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,801,091 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,643,000 after purchasing an additional 589,499 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in Surgery Partners by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 19,494 shares of the company’s stock worth $464,000 after buying an additional 359 shares during the last quarter. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Surgery Partners in the second quarter worth $12,299,000. Wolverine Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Surgery Partners in the second quarter valued at $552,000. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of Surgery Partners by 19.6% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 127,952 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,044,000 after acquiring an additional 20,963 shares during the period.

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.