U.S. Physical Therapy (NYSE:USPH) Share Price Breaks Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. (NYSE:USPH) shares passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Thursday. The stock has a 200-day moving average of $74.40 and traded as high as $88.87. U.S. Physical Therapy shares last traded at $88.8120, with a volume of 129,475 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on USPH. Barrington Research raised their price objective on U.S. Physical Therapy from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy in a research report on Wednesday, August 26th. Citigroup reiterated a “market outperform” rating on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on U.S. Physical Therapy from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $98.25.

U.S. Physical Therapy Trading Down 0.1%

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $82.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $74.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.27. The company has a market cap of $1.32 billion, a PE ratio of 521.71, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.12.

U.S. Physical Therapy (NYSE:USPH) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $214.06 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $211.36 million. U.S. Physical Therapy had a net margin of 3.97% and a return on equity of 9.39%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.81 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. will post 2.89 EPS for the current year.

U.S. Physical Therapy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 21st were issued a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 21st. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. U.S. Physical Therapy’s dividend payout ratio is 1,082.35%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On U.S. Physical Therapy

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in USPH. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its stake in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 6.7% during the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 3,381 shares of the company’s stock worth $253,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares during the period. Personal CFO Solutions LLC increased its position in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 6,759 shares of the company’s stock valued at $509,000 after buying an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its stake in U.S. Physical Therapy by 221.0% during the 3rd quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 443 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 305 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its position in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 4.3% during the first quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 8,016 shares of the company’s stock worth $601,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares during the period. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 75.2% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 785 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 337 shares in the last quarter.

About U.S. Physical Therapy

U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc (NYSE: USPH) operates outpatient physical therapy clinics throughout the United States. The company provides treatment and rehabilitation services for patients recovering from injuries, surgeries, illnesses and other conditions that affect movement, strength and physical function.

In addition to company-operated clinics, U.S. Physical Therapy develops and manages physical therapy practices in partnership with local physical therapists. Its services generally include orthopedic and sports rehabilitation, post-operative therapy, treatment for musculoskeletal conditions and other forms of outpatient rehabilitation.