Rice Hall James & Associates LLC Sells 7,521 Shares of Encompass Health Co. (NYSE:EHC)

Rice Hall James & Associates LLC reduced its stake in Encompass Health Co. (NYSE:EHC - Free Report) by 13.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 46,617 shares of the company's stock after selling 7,521 shares during the quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC's holdings in Encompass Health were worth $4,505,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of EHC. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of Encompass Health by 387.7% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 317 shares of the company's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its holdings in Encompass Health by 53.0% in the third quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 404 shares of the company's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Encompass Health during the 2nd quarter valued at $40,000. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its position in Encompass Health by 58.9% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 534 shares of the company's stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Encompass Health during the second quarter valued at approximately $58,000. 97.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on EHC. UBS Group raised their price objective on Encompass Health from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Leerink Partners initiated coverage on shares of Encompass Health in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $100.00 price objective for the company. Truist Financial reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $116.00 target price (up previously from $108.00) on shares of Encompass Health in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Encompass Health from $109.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Leerink Partnrs raised Encompass Health to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $107.11.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Douglas E. Coltharp sold 12,260 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.34, for a total value of $1,058,528.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 136,227 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,761,839.18. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Encompass Health Stock Performance

Shares of EHC traded down $0.55 on Friday, reaching $98.91. The company's stock had a trading volume of 771,681 shares, compared to its average volume of 640,710. Encompass Health Co. has a 12-month low of $62.58 and a 12-month high of $102.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.07, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.35. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $94.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $88.69.

Encompass Health (NYSE:EHC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.09. Encompass Health had a net margin of 8.10% and a return on equity of 17.60%. The firm had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.33 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.86 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Encompass Health Co. will post 4.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Encompass Health Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. Encompass Health's payout ratio is currently 16.43%.

Encompass Health declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, July 24th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 5.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Encompass Health Company Profile

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.