Select Medical (NYSE:SEM) Sets New 52-Week Low on Disappointing Earnings

Shares of Select Medical Holdings Co. (NYSE:SEM) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Friday following a dissappointing earnings announcement. The stock traded as low as $17.11 and last traded at $16.92, with a volume of 132016 shares. The stock had previously closed at $19.06.

The health services provider reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by ($0.11). Select Medical had a net margin of 3.97% and a return on equity of 15.99%. The business had revenue of $1.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.50 billion.

Select Medical Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a $0.0625 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.42%. Select Medical’s payout ratio is currently 23.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on SEM shares. StockNews.com raised Select Medical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Benchmark cut Select Medical from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Select Medical from $40.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on Select Medical from $40.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $39.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Select Medical news, Director Marilyn B. Tavenner sold 32,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.09, for a total transaction of $674,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 22,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $463,980. This trade represents a 59.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Robert G. Breighner, Jr. sold 4,989 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.95, for a total value of $99,530.55. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 30,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $605,602.20. This represents a 14.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 19.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Select Medical

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Select Medical by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,712,990 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $239,640,000 after buying an additional 131,228 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Select Medical by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,431,469 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $83,533,000 after buying an additional 62,585 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Select Medical by 48.6% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,643,943 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $49,838,000 after buying an additional 864,852 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Select Medical by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,442,321 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $85,180,000 after purchasing an additional 46,880 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Select Medical by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,403,508 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $45,310,000 after purchasing an additional 45,685 shares in the last quarter. 89.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Select Medical Stock Down 7.5 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $2.28 billion, a PE ratio of 8.24, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.45. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $19.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $28.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37.

About Select Medical

Select Medical Holdings Corporation, through its subsidiaries, operates critical illness recovery hospitals, rehabilitation hospitals, outpatient rehabilitation clinics, and occupational health centers in the United States. It operates in four segments: Critical Illness Recovery Hospital, Rehabilitation Hospital, Outpatient Rehabilitation, and Concentra.