Surgery Partners (NASDAQ:SGRY) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

Surgery Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:SGRY) gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $21.25, but opened at $25.50. Surgery Partners shares last traded at $24.94, with a volume of 2,696,515 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on SGRY shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $43.00 target price on shares of Surgery Partners in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Bank of America started coverage on Surgery Partners in a research report on Monday, December 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $30.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target 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. 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 price target on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Surgery Partners presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $36.56.

Surgery Partners Price Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $21.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.08. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported $0.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by ($0.06). Surgery Partners had a negative net margin of 2.03% and a positive return on equity of 2.85%. The firm had revenue of $770.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $768.99 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.15 EPS. Surgery Partners’s revenue was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Surgery Partners, Inc. will post 0.71 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Surgery Partners

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Quarry LP grew its stake in shares of Surgery Partners by 133.1% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 3,082 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,000 after buying an additional 1,760 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of Surgery Partners by 31.8% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,385 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,000 after buying an additional 576 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Surgery Partners by 747.6% during the third quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 3,831 shares of the company’s stock valued at $124,000 after buying an additional 3,379 shares during the last quarter. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Surgery Partners by 16.6% in the 4th quarter. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,280 shares of the company’s stock worth $218,000 after buying an additional 1,460 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in Surgery Partners in the fourth quarter valued at about $245,000.

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.