Encompass Health (NYSE:EHC) Hits New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

Encompass Health Co. (NYSE:EHC)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $103.26 and last traded at $103.03, with a volume of 2219 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $101.34.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EHC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Encompass Health in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. KeyCorp raised their price target on Encompass Health from $115.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Encompass Health from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group raised their target price on Encompass Health from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Leerink Partners began coverage on shares of Encompass Health in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $100.00 price target on the stock. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $107.11.

Encompass Health Trading Up 0.9 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $10.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.74, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 1.04. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $94.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $89.25.

Encompass Health (NYSE:EHC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.33 billion. Encompass Health had a net margin of 8.10% and a return on equity of 17.60%. Encompass Health’s quarterly revenue was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.86 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Encompass Health Co. will post 4.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Encompass Health Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be issued a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 2nd. Encompass Health’s payout ratio is currently 16.43%.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Douglas E. Coltharp sold 12,260 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.34, for a total transaction of $1,058,528.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 136,227 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,761,839.18. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Encompass Health

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Trillium Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Encompass Health during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $4,432,000. TD Asset Management Inc increased its position in shares of Encompass Health by 16.0% in the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,283,674 shares of the company’s stock valued at $188,586,000 after buying an additional 314,488 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Encompass Health by 275.7% during the 2nd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 35,799 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,071,000 after buying an additional 26,270 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Encompass Health by 85.6% during the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 14,365 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,232,000 after buying an additional 6,627 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Encompass Health in the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,204,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.25% of the company’s stock.

Encompass Health Company Profile

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.