Amundi Purchases 4,632 Shares of U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. (NYSE:USPH)

Amundi lifted its position in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. (NYSE:USPH) by 174.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 7,286 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 4,632 shares during the quarter. Amundi’s holdings in U.S. Physical Therapy were worth $649,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 3,200.0% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 726 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 704 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 68.6% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 774 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,000 after acquiring an additional 315 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy during the fourth quarter worth $113,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 25.1% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,486 shares of the company’s stock worth $126,000 after acquiring an additional 298 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mutual of America Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy during the fourth quarter worth $203,000.

U.S. Physical Therapy Stock Performance

NYSE USPH opened at $75.95 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $85.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $87.17. U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $74.76 and a 1 year high of $113.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 80.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 1.51.

U.S. Physical Therapy (NYSE:USPH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.69 by ($0.04). U.S. Physical Therapy had a return on equity of 8.11% and a net margin of 3.54%. The firm had revenue of $180.45 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $173.10 million. As a group, research analysts anticipate that U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. will post 2.67 EPS for the current year.

U.S. Physical Therapy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.37%. This is a boost from U.S. Physical Therapy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. U.S. Physical Therapy’s payout ratio is 97.83%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other U.S. Physical Therapy news, COO Graham D. Reeve sold 1,730 shares of U.S. Physical Therapy stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.11, for a total transaction of $142,050.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,168 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $588,564.48. The trade was a 19.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barrington Research lowered their price objective on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy from $108.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Bank of America upgraded shares of U.S. Physical Therapy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $100.00 to $115.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of U.S. Physical Therapy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. William Blair restated a “market perform” rating on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded U.S. Physical Therapy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.