Select Medical (NYSE:SEM) Upgraded to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Select Medical (NYSE:SEM) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Friday.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on SEM. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Select Medical from $40.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Benchmark downgraded shares of Select Medical from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Select Medical from $40.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $39.50.

Select Medical Trading Down 7.5 %

SEM opened at $17.63 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The company has a market cap of $2.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.45. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $19.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $27.91. Select Medical has a fifty-two week low of $16.20 and a fifty-two week high of $40.98.

Select Medical (NYSE:SEM) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The health services provider reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.29 by ($0.11). Select Medical had a net margin of 3.23% and a return on equity of 14.04%. The firm had revenue of $1.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Select Medical will post 1.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Select Medical Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a $0.0625 dividend. This represents a $0.25 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. Select Medical’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.30%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Robert G. Breighner, Jr. sold 4,989 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.95, for a total transaction of $99,530.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 30,356 shares in the company, valued at approximately $605,602.20. This represents a 14.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Marilyn B. Tavenner sold 32,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.09, for a total transaction of $674,880.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 22,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $463,980. The trade was a 59.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 19.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SEM. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in Select Medical by 10.6% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 17,441 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $608,000 after purchasing an additional 1,665 shares during the last quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Select Medical during the third quarter worth $193,000. Sippican Capital Advisors raised its position in Select Medical by 30.9% during the third quarter. Sippican Capital Advisors now owns 12,442 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $434,000 after acquiring an additional 2,937 shares in the last quarter. EMC Capital Management raised its position in Select Medical by 63.4% during the third quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 12,536 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $437,000 after acquiring an additional 4,862 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Select Medical by 6.7% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,357,823 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $82,208,000 after acquiring an additional 147,032 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.48% of the company’s stock.

Select Medical Company Profile

Select Medical Holdings Corporation, through its subsidiaries, operates critical illness recovery hospitals, rehabilitation hospitals, outpatient rehabilitation clinics, and occupational health centers in the United States. It operates in four segments: Critical Illness Recovery Hospital, Rehabilitation Hospital, Outpatient Rehabilitation, and Concentra.