Surgery Partners (NASDAQ:SGRY) Upgraded to Hold at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Surgery Partners (NASDAQ:SGRY) from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on SGRY. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Surgery Partners from $19.00 to $17.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Surgery Partners in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Surgery Partners in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Surgery Partners from $28.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Surgery Partners in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.18.

Surgery Partners Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of SGRY stock opened at $14.31 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.87 billion, a P/E ratio of -23.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.88 and a beta of 1.99. Surgery Partners has a 1 year low of $11.41 and a 1 year high of $24.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 1.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $13.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $15.51.

Surgery Partners (NASDAQ:SGRY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported ($0.03) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.15) by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $810.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $797.69 million. Surgery Partners had a positive return on equity of 1.04% and a negative net margin of 2.28%.The company’s revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.04 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Surgery Partners will post 0.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Surgery Partners declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, February 26th that allows the company to repurchase $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 9.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Surgery Partners

In other news, insider Marissa Brittenham sold 8,785 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.70, for a total value of $120,354.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 54,623 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $748,335.10. This represents a 13.85% 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. Also, CFO David T. Doherty sold 14,574 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.84, for a total transaction of $201,704.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 88,803 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,229,033.52. The trade was a 14.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 96,896 shares of company stock valued at $1,284,058. 2.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Pentwater Capital Management LP grew its position in Surgery Partners by 66.9% during the 3rd quarter. Pentwater Capital Management LP now owns 11,681,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $252,777,000 after acquiring an additional 4,681,000 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG raised its position in Surgery Partners by 111.4% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 7,803,974 shares of the company’s stock valued at $120,571,000 after purchasing an additional 4,113,052 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Surgery Partners by 528.2% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,959,686 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,277,000 after purchasing an additional 1,647,714 shares in the last quarter. Glenview Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Surgery Partners during the second quarter valued at about $33,995,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Surgery Partners by 25.5% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,860,215 shares of the company’s stock worth $105,177,000 after purchasing an additional 988,956 shares during the last quarter.

Surgery Partners Company Profile

Surgery Partners, Inc operates as a healthcare services provider specializing in the management and ownership of ambulatory surgery centers, surgical hospitals and multispecialty rehabilitation hospitals across the United States. Through its network of facilities, the company coordinates and delivers a broad range of outpatient surgical procedures in specialties such as orthopedics, ophthalmology, otolaryngology, gastroenterology, pain management and general surgery. Its integrated platform offers ancillary services including on-site imaging, laboratory testing, infusion therapy and physical, occupational and speech rehabilitation.

Since its establishment in 2010 and subsequent public listing in 2015, Surgery Partners has focused on strategic partnerships with physicians and health systems to expand access to cost-effective outpatient care.