Select Medical (NYSE:SEM) Hits New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

Select Medical Holdings Co. (NYSE:SEM)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $40.98 and last traded at $40.35, with a volume of 63158 shares. The stock had previously closed at $39.27.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on SEM. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $48.00 target price on shares of Select Medical in a report on Friday, November 1st. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Select Medical from $40.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. StockNews.com raised shares of Select Medical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on shares of Select Medical in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $42.00 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $40.75.

Select Medical Price Performance

The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $34.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $34.53. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The company has a market cap of $5.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.31, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.42.

Select Medical (NYSE:SEM) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The health services provider reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.07. Select Medical had a net margin of 3.97% and a return on equity of 15.99%. The company had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.74 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.46 earnings per share. Select Medical’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Select Medical Holdings Co. will post 2.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Select Medical Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be given a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.28%. Select Medical’s payout ratio is currently 23.36%.

Institutional Trading of Select Medical

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Select Medical by 0.5% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 17,202,219 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $518,647,000 after purchasing an additional 90,604 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Select Medical by 5.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,997,891 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $391,886,000 after purchasing an additional 650,093 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Select Medical by 2.2% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,498,772 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $157,728,000 after acquiring an additional 95,578 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Select Medical by 6.7% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,357,823 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $82,208,000 after acquiring an additional 147,032 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Select Medical by 1.5% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,646,320 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $57,407,000 after acquiring an additional 24,439 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.