Universal Health Services, Inc. (NYSE:UHS) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.20

Universal Health Services, Inc. (NYSE:UHS) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, November 20th,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be given a dividend of 0.20 per share by the health services provider on Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.41%.

Universal Health Services has raised its dividend payment by an average of 58.7% annually over the last three years. Universal Health Services has a dividend payout ratio of 4.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Universal Health Services to earn $17.71 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.80 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 4.5%.

Universal Health Services Stock Performance

Shares of Universal Health Services stock traded up $0.73 on Wednesday, hitting $197.52. 1,015,494 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 683,124. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $220.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $206.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.03 billion, a PE ratio of 13.08, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.29. Universal Health Services has a 1 year low of $133.70 and a 1 year high of $243.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a current ratio of 1.39.

Universal Health Services (NYSE:UHS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The health services provider reported $3.71 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.75 by ($0.04). Universal Health Services had a net margin of 6.66% and a return on equity of 15.75%. The firm had revenue of $3.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.55 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Universal Health Services will post 15.93 EPS for the current year.

Universal Health Services announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, July 24th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the health services provider to repurchase up to 8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on UHS shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Universal Health Services from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 9th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Universal Health Services from $222.00 to $211.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Universal Health Services in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. KeyCorp began coverage on shares of Universal Health Services in a report on Friday, October 11th. They set a “sector weight” rating on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Universal Health Services from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $231.14.

Universal Health Services Company Profile

Universal Health Services, Inc, through its subsidiaries, owns and operates acute care hospitals, and outpatient and behavioral health care facilities. It operates through Acute Care Hospital Services and Behavioral Health Care Services segments. The company's hospitals offer general and specialty surgery, internal medicine, obstetrics, emergency room care, radiology, oncology, diagnostic and coronary care, pediatric services, pharmacy services, and/or behavioral health services.