SPC Financial Inc. Trims Holdings in Encompass Health Co. (NYSE:EHC)

SPC Financial Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Encompass Health Co. (NYSE:EHC) by 4.1% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 44,923 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,935 shares during the period. SPC Financial Inc.’s holdings in Encompass Health were worth $4,341,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Creative Planning boosted its position in shares of Encompass Health by 4.1% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 19,086 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,844,000 after buying an additional 743 shares during the period. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC lifted its stake in Encompass Health by 43.7% during the 3rd quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC now owns 60,553 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,852,000 after acquiring an additional 18,407 shares in the last quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA purchased a new position in Encompass Health during the 3rd quarter valued at about $221,000. Reinhart Partners LLC. grew its position in Encompass Health by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 673,040 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,043,000 after acquiring an additional 15,550 shares in the last quarter. Finally, West Coast Financial LLC increased its stake in Encompass Health by 1.5% during the third quarter. West Coast Financial LLC now owns 47,671 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,607,000 after purchasing an additional 697 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EHC has been the subject of several recent research reports. KeyCorp initiated coverage on shares of Encompass Health in a research note on Friday, October 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $115.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Encompass Health from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Encompass Health from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Encompass Health from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $105.00 price target on shares of Encompass Health in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $104.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Encompass Health Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE EHC opened at $97.40 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $92.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $87.61. The company has a market capitalization of $9.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.88. Encompass Health Co. has a 1 year low of $57.55 and a 1 year high of $98.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.35.

Encompass Health (NYSE:EHC) last posted its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $1.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.30 billion. Encompass Health had a return on equity of 17.83% and a net margin of 7.88%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.95 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Encompass Health Co. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Encompass Health Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 1st were given a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.70%. This is an increase from Encompass Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 1st. Encompass Health’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.38%.

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

About Encompass Health

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.