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

Universal Health Services, Inc. (NYSE:UHS) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, November 20th,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be given 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 0.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 3rd.

Universal Health Services has increased its dividend by an average of 58.7% per year over the last three years. Universal Health Services has a payout ratio of 4.4% meaning 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 Stock Up 0.7 %

NYSE:UHS opened at $205.00 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $214.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $207.09. Universal Health Services has a 52-week low of $133.70 and a 52-week high of $243.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a current ratio of 1.39. The company has a market cap of $13.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.63, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.29.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

UHS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Universal Health Services from $285.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Universal Health Services from $222.00 to $211.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 28th. KeyCorp started coverage on Universal Health Services in a research note on Friday, October 11th. They issued a “sector weight” rating on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded Universal Health Services from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 9th. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on Universal Health Services in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $223.00 price objective on the stock. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $225.50.

Universal Health Services Company Profile

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.