Surgery Partners (NASDAQ:SGRY) Sees Strong Trading Volume – Still a Buy?

Surgery Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:SGRY) shares saw unusually-strong trading volume on Thursday . Approximately 1,617,532 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 103% from the previous session’s volume of 797,605 shares.The stock last traded at $20.42 and had previously closed at $20.35.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on SGRY shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $43.00 target price on shares of Surgery Partners in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Macquarie reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $34.00 target price on shares of Surgery Partners in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Surgery Partners from $38.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Surgery Partners from $49.00 to $35.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on shares of Surgery Partners in a research report on Monday, October 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $38.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Surgery Partners currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $36.56.

Surgery Partners Trading Up 1.3 %

The firm has a market cap of $2.62 billion, a PE ratio of -42.94, a P/E/G ratio of 14.18 and a beta of 2.58. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $21.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $27.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

Surgery Partners (NASDAQ:SGRY) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.25 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $770.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $768.99 million. Surgery Partners had a negative net margin of 2.03% and a positive return on equity of 2.85%. The firm’s revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.15 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Surgery Partners, Inc. will post 0.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Surgery Partners

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Quarry LP lifted its stake in shares of Surgery Partners by 133.1% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 3,082 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 1,760 shares during the period. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in shares of Surgery Partners by 31.8% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,385 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,000 after purchasing an additional 576 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Surgery Partners by 747.6% in the third quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 3,831 shares of the company’s stock valued at $124,000 after purchasing an additional 3,379 shares during the period. Creative Planning acquired a new stake in shares of Surgery Partners in the third quarter valued at about $258,000. Finally, Versor Investments LP acquired a new stake in shares of Surgery Partners in the third quarter valued at about $271,000.

About Surgery Partners

Surgery Partners, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, owns and operates a network of surgical facilities and ancillary services in the United States. The company provides ambulatory surgery centers and surgical hospitals that offer non-emergency surgical procedures in various specialties, including orthopedics and pain management, ophthalmology, gastroenterology, and general surgery.