Encompass Health Co. (NYSE:EHC) Given Average Recommendation of “Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Encompass Health Co. (NYSE:EHC) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the eleven analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $104.67.

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on EHC shares. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Encompass Health from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Leerink Partnrs raised Encompass Health to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $105.00 target price on shares of Encompass Health in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Encompass Health from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on Encompass Health from $113.00 to $109.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 6th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Douglas E. Coltharp sold 12,260 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.34, for a total value of $1,058,528.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 136,227 shares in the company, valued at $11,761,839.18. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Encompass Health

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Trillium Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Encompass Health in the first quarter valued at approximately $4,432,000. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its position in Encompass Health by 16.0% in the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,283,674 shares of the company’s stock valued at $188,586,000 after purchasing an additional 314,488 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Encompass Health by 275.7% in the second quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 35,799 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,071,000 after purchasing an additional 26,270 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Encompass Health by 85.6% in the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 14,365 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,232,000 after purchasing an additional 6,627 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Encompass Health in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,204,000. Institutional investors own 97.25% of the company’s stock.

Encompass Health Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of EHC opened at $97.40 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $92.43 and a 200 day moving average of $87.61. Encompass Health has a fifty-two week low of $57.55 and a fifty-two week high of $98.74. The firm has a market cap of $9.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 1.35.

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

Encompass Health Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st were issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. This is a positive change from Encompass Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.70%. Encompass Health’s payout ratio is presently 18.38%.

Encompass Health announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, July 24th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 5.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.