Encompass Health (NYSE:EHC) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.09 EPS

Encompass Health (NYSE:EHC) released its quarterly earnings results on Monday. The company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.09, Briefing.com reports. The firm had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.33 billion. Encompass Health had a return on equity of 17.83% and a net margin of 7.88%. Encompass Health’s quarterly revenue was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.86 EPS. Encompass Health updated its FY24 guidance to $4.19-$4.33 EPS and its FY 2024 guidance to 4.190-4.330 EPS.

Encompass Health Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of EHC traded down $0.58 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $100.76. 110,957 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 636,324. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. Encompass Health has a twelve month low of $61.08 and a twelve month high of $102.36. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $94.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $88.61. The stock has a market cap of $10.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.88.

Encompass Health Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be given a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 2nd. Encompass Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.43%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on EHC. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $116.00 price objective (up from $108.00) on shares of Encompass Health in a research report on Wednesday. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $105.00 price target on shares of Encompass Health in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Encompass Health from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Encompass Health to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Encompass Health from $115.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $107.11.

Encompass Health announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, July 24th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 5.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Encompass Health news, CFO Douglas E. Coltharp sold 12,260 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.34, for a total transaction of $1,058,528.40. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 136,227 shares in the company, valued at $11,761,839.18. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Encompass Health

Encompass Health Corporation provides post-acute healthcare services in the United States and Puerto Rico. It owns and operates inpatient rehabilitation hospitals that provide medical, nursing, therapy, and ancillary services. The company provides specialized rehabilitative treatment on an inpatient basis to patients who have experienced physical or cognitive disabilities or injuries due to medical conditions, such as strokes, hip fractures, and various debilitating neurological conditions.