Principal Financial Group Inc. Raises Stock Position in U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. (NYSE:USPH)

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. (NYSE:USPH - Free Report) by 4.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 83,091 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 3,274 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.55% of U.S. Physical Therapy worth $7,371,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 283.0% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 16,842 shares of the company's stock worth $1,425,000 after buying an additional 12,445 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 57.1% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 2,631 shares of the company's stock valued at $223,000 after acquiring an additional 956 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 17.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 667,868 shares of the company's stock valued at $56,522,000 after acquiring an additional 99,244 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 12.1% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 57,166 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,838,000 after acquiring an additional 6,154 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 113.4% during the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 16,188 shares of the company's stock worth $1,370,000 after purchasing an additional 8,604 shares during the period.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Bank of America upgraded U.S. Physical Therapy from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the company from $100.00 to $115.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Citizens Jmp upgraded U.S. Physical Therapy to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. StockNews.com cut shares of U.S. Physical Therapy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. JMP Securities initiated coverage on U.S. Physical Therapy in a report on Monday, December 16th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $113.00 price objective for the company. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $111.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Carey P. Hendrickson sold 516 shares of U.S. Physical Therapy stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.25, for a total transaction of $49,665.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 20,469 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,970,141.25. The trade was a 2.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 Stock Performance

Shares of USPH stock traded up $1.97 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $81.37. 168,729 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 103,627. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $87.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $87.59. The company has a market cap of $1.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 86.56, a P/E/G ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 1.48. U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $76.18 and a 12-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.

U.S. Physical Therapy (NYSE:USPH - Get Free Report) last announced 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 return on equity of 8.11% and a net margin of 3.54%. The company had revenue of $180.45 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $173.10 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. will post 2.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Physical Therapy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.21%. This is a boost 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 currently 97.83%.

U.S. Physical Therapy Company 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.