Universal Health Services, Inc. (NYSE:UHS) Plans $0.20 Quarterly Dividend

Universal Health Services, Inc. (NYSE:UHS) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, November 20th,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be paid a dividend of 0.20 per share by the health services provider on Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%.

Universal Health Services has raised its dividend payment by an average of 58.7% annually over the last three years. Universal Health Services has a dividend payout ratio of 4.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Universal Health Services to earn $17.71 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.80 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 4.5%.

Universal Health Services Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:UHS opened at $197.44 on Thursday. Universal Health Services has a 12-month low of $133.70 and a 12-month high of $243.25. The business has a 50 day moving average of $219.39 and a 200-day moving average of $205.95. The company has a quick ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market cap of $13.03 billion, a PE ratio of 13.13, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.29.

Universal Health Services (NYSE:UHS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The health services provider reported $3.71 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.75 by ($0.04). Universal Health Services had a net margin of 6.66% and a return on equity of 15.75%. The firm had revenue of $3.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.55 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Universal Health Services will post 15.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Universal Health Services declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, July 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the health services provider to reacquire up to 8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UHS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Universal Health Services from $256.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Universal Health Services from $236.00 to $274.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Universal Health Services from $283.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 28th. UBS Group raised their target price on Universal Health Services from $247.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Universal Health Services from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $231.14.

About Universal Health Services

Universal Health Services, Inc, through its subsidiaries, owns and operates acute care hospitals, and outpatient and behavioral health care facilities. It operates through Acute Care Hospital Services and Behavioral Health Care Services segments. The company's hospitals offer general and specialty surgery, internal medicine, obstetrics, emergency room care, radiology, oncology, diagnostic and coronary care, pediatric services, pharmacy services, and/or behavioral health services.