Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Decreases Position in Encompass Health Co. (NYSE:EHC)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lessened its stake in Encompass Health Co. (NYSE:EHC) by 7.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 194,913 shares of the company’s stock after selling 15,775 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned about 0.19% of Encompass Health worth $13,005,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of EHC. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Encompass Health by 22.3% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,974,306 shares of the company’s stock valued at $266,914,000 after acquiring an additional 724,544 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Encompass Health by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 5,676,379 shares of the company’s stock valued at $381,226,000 after purchasing an additional 342,512 shares during the period. Lisanti Capital Growth LLC purchased a new position in Encompass Health during the third quarter valued at $10,410,000. FMR LLC lifted its position in Encompass Health by 11.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,374,755 shares of the company’s stock valued at $92,329,000 after acquiring an additional 142,633 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Encompass Health by 37.4% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 517,501 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,755,000 after purchasing an additional 140,930 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.25% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Mizuho boosted their target price on Encompass Health from $77.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Encompass Health in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $83.00 price objective on shares of Encompass Health in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Barclays upped their price objective on Encompass Health from $95.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $85.00 price objective on shares of Encompass Health in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $83.22.

Encompass Health Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE EHC traded up $1.10 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $81.43. The company had a trading volume of 64,290 shares, compared to its average volume of 646,375. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The stock has a market cap of $8.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.94. The business’s 50-day moving average is $77.52 and its 200-day moving average is $70.47. Encompass Health Co. has a 52 week low of $57.55 and a 52 week high of $83.73.

Encompass Health (NYSE:EHC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The company reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.12. Encompass Health had a return on equity of 17.69% and a net margin of 7.33%. The firm had revenue of $1.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.24 billion. Equities analysts expect that Encompass Health Co. will post 3.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Encompass Health Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 1st were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 28th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. Encompass Health’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.29%.

Encompass Health Company Profile

Encompass Health Corporation provides post-acute healthcare services in the United States and Puerto Rico. It owns and operates inpatient rehabilitation hospitals that provide medical, nursing, therapy, and ancillary services. The company provides specialized rehabilitative treatment on an inpatient basis to patients who have experienced physical or cognitive disabilities or injuries due to medical conditions, such as strokes, hip fractures, and various debilitating neurological conditions.