Select Medical (NYSE:SEM) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Select Medical Holdings Co. (NYSE:SEM) gapped up prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $32.08, but opened at $34.30. Select Medical shares last traded at $36.95, with a volume of 137,307 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SEM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Select Medical in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $42.00 price objective on the stock. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $48.00 price target on shares of Select Medical in a research note on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $39.00.

Select Medical Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $4.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.42. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $34.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $34.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.11.

Select Medical (NYSE:SEM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The health services provider reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by ($0.01). Select Medical had a return on equity of 17.56% and a net margin of 3.97%. The company had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.74 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.61 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Select Medical Holdings Co. will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Select Medical Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be issued a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 13th. Select Medical’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.36%.

Institutional Trading of Select Medical

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Select Medical by 528.7% during the second quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 767 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 645 shares during the last quarter. Transcendent Capital Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Select Medical during the 2nd quarter worth about $35,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new stake in Select Medical in the 2nd quarter valued at about $39,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Select Medical in the first quarter valued at about $47,000. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new position in Select Medical during the second quarter worth about $60,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.48% of the company’s stock.

About Select Medical

Select Medical Holdings Corporation, through its subsidiaries, operates critical illness recovery hospitals, rehabilitation hospitals, outpatient rehabilitation clinics, and occupational health centers in the United States. It operates in four segments: Critical Illness Recovery Hospital, Rehabilitation Hospital, Outpatient Rehabilitation, and Concentra.