Vontobel Holding Ltd. Sells 1,021 Shares of Encompass Health Co. (NYSE:EHC)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. lessened its holdings in shares of Encompass Health Co. (NYSE:EHC) by 11.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,740 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,021 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in Encompass Health were worth $748,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Magnetar Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Encompass Health by 1,176.6% in the 2nd quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 744,836 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,899,000 after buying an additional 814,018 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in shares of Encompass Health by 2,302.7% in the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 603,558 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,780,000 after acquiring an additional 578,438 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Encompass Health by 614.8% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 540,519 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,637,000 after acquiring an additional 464,897 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Encompass Health by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,997,034 shares of the company’s stock worth $667,002,000 after purchasing an additional 450,081 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Scout Investments Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Encompass Health during the first quarter worth $29,356,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.25% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Encompass Health

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EHC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Leerink Partners assumed coverage on shares of Encompass Health in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $100.00 target price for the company. KeyCorp assumed coverage on shares of Encompass Health in a research report on Friday, October 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $115.00 price target on the stock. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Encompass Health from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Encompass Health from $113.00 to $109.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $105.00 price target on shares of Encompass Health in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $104.67.

Encompass Health Price Performance

Shares of EHC stock opened at $97.19 on Monday. Encompass Health Co. has a 1-year low of $57.55 and a 1-year high of $98.74. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $92.85 and a two-hundred day moving average of $87.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.35. The firm has a market cap of $9.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.88.

Encompass Health (NYSE:EHC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The company reported $1.11 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.10. Encompass Health had a net margin of 7.88% and a return on equity of 17.83%. The business had revenue of $1.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.30 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.95 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Encompass Health Co. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Encompass Health announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, July 24th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 5.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Encompass Health Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 2nd. Encompass Health’s payout ratio is 18.38%.

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.