Principal Financial Group Inc. Cuts Stake in Encompass Health Co. (NYSE:EHC)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Encompass Health Co. (NYSE:EHC - Free Report) by 39.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 297,823 shares of the company's stock after selling 192,086 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.30% of Encompass Health worth $28,782,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of EHC. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Encompass Health by 22.0% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 700,021 shares of the company's stock worth $67,412,000 after purchasing an additional 126,000 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp raised its stake in Encompass Health by 92.9% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 16,057 shares of the company's stock worth $1,552,000 after buying an additional 7,733 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Encompass Health by 5.7% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 3,509 shares of the company's stock valued at $339,000 after buying an additional 188 shares during the period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its position in Encompass Health by 2,870.0% during the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 7,336 shares of the company's stock valued at $709,000 after acquiring an additional 7,089 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Encompass Health by 4.1% during the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 27,636 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,672,000 after acquiring an additional 1,088 shares during the last quarter. 97.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on EHC. Truist Financial reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $116.00 price objective (up from $108.00) on shares of Encompass Health in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Encompass Health from $115.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Encompass Health from $109.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Encompass Health from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Encompass Health from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Encompass Health has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $107.11.

Encompass Health Stock Down 0.0 %

EHC stock traded down $0.02 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $94.17. 135,355 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 641,481. The stock has a market cap of $9.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.86. Encompass Health Co. has a fifty-two week low of $65.99 and a fifty-two week high of $104.55. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $99.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $93.11. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88.

Encompass Health (NYSE:EHC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.33 billion. Encompass Health had a return on equity of 17.60% and a net margin of 8.10%. Encompass Health's revenue was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.86 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Encompass Health Co. will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Encompass Health Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 2nd. Encompass Health's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.43%.

Encompass Health 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.