U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. (USPH) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.45 on June 13th

U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. (NYSE:USPH) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, May 8th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be given a dividend of 0.45 per share on Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd.

U.S. Physical Therapy has raised its dividend by an average of 6.4% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 6 years. U.S. Physical Therapy has a dividend payout ratio of 61.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities 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 $1.80 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 61.4%.

U.S. Physical Therapy Stock Down 0.5%

NYSE:USPH opened at $79.33 on Wednesday. U.S. Physical Therapy has a 12-month low of $62.77 and a 12-month high of $106.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.78, a current ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 84.39, a P/E/G ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 1.44. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $71.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $83.53.

U.S. Physical Therapy (NYSE:USPH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.02. U.S. Physical Therapy had a return on equity of 8.11% and a net margin of 3.54%. The business had revenue of $183.79 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $176.78 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.51 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that U.S. Physical Therapy will post 2.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Graham D. Reeve sold 1,730 shares of U.S. Physical Therapy stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.11, for a total value of $142,050.30. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 7,168 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $588,564.48. The trade was a 19.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of U.S. Physical Therapy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of USPH. Jane Street Group LLC increased its position in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 249.3% in the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 49,309 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,568,000 after acquiring an additional 35,191 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 3.4% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 79,238 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,733,000 after acquiring an additional 2,594 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 4.6% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 8,897 shares of the company’s stock valued at $644,000 after acquiring an additional 391 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com raised U.S. Physical Therapy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on U.S. Physical Therapy from $120.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. William Blair reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Barrington Research decreased their target price on U.S. Physical Therapy from $108.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $113.00 target price on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, U.S. Physical Therapy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $109.00.

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.