Amundi Grows Stock Holdings in U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. (NYSE:USPH)

Amundi boosted its holdings in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. (NYSE:USPH - Free Report) by 174.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,286 shares of the company's stock after purchasing 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 reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of USPH. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. boosted its position in U.S. Physical Therapy by 135.4% during the fourth quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 260,125 shares of the company's stock worth $23,076,000 after purchasing an additional 149,622 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in U.S. Physical Therapy by 17.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 667,868 shares of the company's stock worth $56,522,000 after purchasing an additional 99,244 shares in the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC boosted its position in U.S. Physical Therapy by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 839,356 shares of the company's stock worth $74,459,000 after purchasing an additional 72,715 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in U.S. Physical Therapy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $6,240,000. Finally, Southernsun Asset Management LLC boosted its position in U.S. Physical Therapy by 10.5% during the third quarter. Southernsun Asset Management LLC now owns 547,111 shares of the company's stock worth $46,302,000 after purchasing an additional 52,062 shares in the last quarter.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

USPH has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com cut U.S. Physical Therapy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. William Blair reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Barrington Research reduced their target price on U.S. Physical Therapy from $108.00 to $98.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 28th. Citizens Jmp raised U.S. Physical Therapy to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, JMP Securities initiated coverage on U.S. Physical Therapy in a report on Monday, December 16th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $113.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $109.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Graham D. Reeve sold 1,730 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.11, for a total value of $142,050.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,168 shares in the company, valued at approximately $588,564.48. This represents a 19.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

U.S. Physical Therapy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:USPH traded down $2.18 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $72.52. The company had a trading volume of 268,706 shares, compared to its average volume of 99,809. U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $72.27 and a twelve month high of $113.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 1.78. The stock has a market cap of $1.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 77.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 1.51. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $84.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $87.00.

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

U.S. Physical Therapy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.48%. This is a positive change 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 97.83%.

U.S. Physical Therapy Profile

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.