U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. Declares Dividend of $0.45 (NYSE:USPH)

U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. (NYSE:USPH) declared a dividend on Wednesday, February 26th, NASDAQ Dividends reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of 0.45 per share on Friday, April 11th. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th.

U.S. Physical Therapy has raised its dividend by an average of 6.4% annually over the last three years. U.S. Physical Therapy has a dividend payout ratio of 55.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect U.S. Physical Therapy to earn $2.93 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.76 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 60.1%.

U.S. Physical Therapy Stock Performance

U.S. Physical Therapy stock traded down $5.47 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $82.25. 275,173 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 97,149. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $88.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $87.67. The company has a quick ratio of 1.78, a current ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. U.S. Physical Therapy has a one year low of $76.18 and a one year high of $113.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.24 billion, a PE ratio of 87.50, a P/E/G ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 1.48.

U.S. Physical Therapy (NYSE:USPH) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $180.45 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $173.10 million. U.S. Physical Therapy had a return on equity of 8.11% and a net margin of 3.54%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that U.S. Physical Therapy will post 2.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on USPH shares. William Blair reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy in a report on Thursday. JMP Securities initiated coverage on U.S. Physical Therapy in a research note on Monday, December 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $113.00 price target for the company. Bank of America upgraded U.S. Physical Therapy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $100.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $108.00 target price on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy from $117.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $114.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Carey P. Hendrickson sold 516 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.25, for a total transaction of $49,665.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 20,469 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,970,141.25. This represents a 2.46 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About U.S. Physical Therapy

U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc operates outpatient physical therapy clinics. The company operates through Physical Therapy Operations and Industrial Injury Prevention Services segments. The company provides pre-and post-operative care and treatment for orthopedic-related disorders, sports-related injuries, preventative care, rehabilitation of injured workers, and neurological-related injuries.