Norden Group LLC Reduces Position in U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. (NYSE:USPH)

Norden Group LLC lowered its holdings in U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. (NYSE:USPH) by 12.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,293 shares of the company’s stock after selling 477 shares during the period. Norden Group LLC’s holdings in U.S. Physical Therapy were worth $307,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in U.S. Physical Therapy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $554,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy during the 3rd quarter valued at about $232,000. Cambiar Investors LLC raised its stake in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 10.1% during the third quarter. Cambiar Investors LLC now owns 20,803 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,908,000 after acquiring an additional 1,900 shares in the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $989,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in U.S. Physical Therapy by 9.4% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 43,461 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,987,000 after purchasing an additional 3,722 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on USPH. StockNews.com raised U.S. Physical Therapy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Barrington Research boosted their price objective on U.S. Physical Therapy from $120.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy from $99.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, U.S. Physical Therapy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $125.67.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Carey P. Hendrickson sold 1,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.28, for a total value of $193,104.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 21,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,272,834.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other U.S. Physical Therapy news, Director Clayton Trier sold 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.00, for a total transaction of $42,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $749,000. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Carey P. Hendrickson sold 1,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.28, for a total value of $193,104.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 21,186 shares in the company, valued at $2,272,834.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 10,829 shares of company stock worth $1,141,535 in the last quarter. 1.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

U.S. Physical Therapy Price Performance

Shares of U.S. Physical Therapy stock opened at $101.46 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $1.53 billion, a PE ratio of 75.16, a P/E/G ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 1.39. The business has a 50 day moving average of $105.01 and a 200 day moving average of $95.74. U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $78.08 and a 52 week high of $124.11. The company has a quick ratio of 2.28, a current ratio of 2.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

U.S. Physical Therapy (NYSE:USPH) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.02. U.S. Physical Therapy had a net margin of 4.67% and a return on equity of 8.52%. The firm had revenue of $154.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $150.24 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.58 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. will post 2.77 earnings per share for the current year.

U.S. Physical Therapy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 12th were given a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 11th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.73%. This is a positive change from U.S. Physical Therapy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. U.S. Physical Therapy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 130.37%.

About U.S. Physical Therapy

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.