John G Ullman & Associates Inc. Acquires New Position in Encompass Health Co. (NYSE:EHC)

John G Ullman & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Encompass Health Co. (NYSE:EHC - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 24,050 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,221,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in EHC. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings in shares of Encompass Health by 87.8% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 293 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Encompass Health during the third quarter valued at $40,000. Tompkins Financial Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Encompass Health during the fourth quarter valued at $46,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Encompass Health by 43.8% during the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 581 shares of the company's stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Encompass Health during the third quarter valued at $68,000. 97.25% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on EHC shares. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Encompass Health from $117.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Encompass Health from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 15th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Encompass Health from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Encompass Health in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $110.00 target price on shares of Encompass Health in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $107.67.

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Encompass Health Price Performance

Shares of Encompass Health stock traded up $1.67 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $100.12. The stock had a trading volume of 770,900 shares, compared to its average volume of 628,141. The stock's 50 day moving average is $96.74 and its 200 day moving average is $96.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.08 billion, a PE ratio of 22.45, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.92. Encompass Health Co. has a twelve month low of $74.27 and a twelve month high of $104.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84.

Encompass Health (NYSE:EHC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.12. Encompass Health had a net margin of 8.48% and a return on equity of 17.56%. Equities analysts expect that Encompass Health Co. will post 4.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Encompass Health Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.68%. Encompass Health's dividend payout ratio is currently 15.25%.

Insider Transactions at Encompass Health

In other news, CAO Andrew L. Price sold 5,042 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.29, for a total transaction of $495,578.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 69,164 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,798,129.56. The trade was a 6.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company's stock.

About Encompass Health

Encompass Health Corporation provides post-acute healthcare services in the United States and Puerto Rico. It owns and operates inpatient rehabilitation hospitals that provide medical, nursing, therapy, and ancillary services. The company provides specialized rehabilitative treatment on an inpatient basis to patients who have experienced physical or cognitive disabilities or injuries due to medical conditions, such as strokes, hip fractures, and various debilitating neurological conditions.