Encompass Health Co. (NYSE:EHC) Stake Boosted by Aptus Capital Advisors LLC

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Encompass Health Co. (NYSE:EHC) by 16.1% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 72,286 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,022 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Encompass Health were worth $6,986,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of EHC. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Encompass Health by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,166,147 shares of the company’s stock valued at $839,520,000 after acquiring an additional 169,113 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Encompass Health by 16.0% during the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,283,674 shares of the company’s stock valued at $188,586,000 after buying an additional 314,488 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Encompass Health by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,819,345 shares of the company’s stock valued at $156,083,000 after buying an additional 22,311 shares during the last quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Encompass Health by 14.2% during the 1st quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 1,598,042 shares of the company’s stock valued at $131,966,000 after buying an additional 198,701 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 8 Knots Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Encompass Health by 14.0% during the 1st quarter. 8 Knots Management LLC now owns 1,288,815 shares of the company’s stock valued at $106,430,000 after buying an additional 158,356 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.25% of the company’s stock.

Encompass Health Stock Down 0.6 %

EHC opened at $102.62 on Wednesday. Encompass Health Co. has a 1-year low of $63.01 and a 1-year high of $104.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.88. The business has a 50 day moving average of $95.90 and a 200-day moving average of $89.98.

Encompass Health (NYSE:EHC) last issued its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.33 billion. Encompass Health had a return on equity of 17.60% and a net margin of 8.10%. Encompass Health’s revenue was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.86 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Encompass Health Co. will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Encompass Health Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be paid a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.66%. Encompass Health’s payout ratio is 16.43%.

Encompass Health declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, July 24th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 5.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EHC has been the subject of several research reports. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $116.00 price target (up from $108.00) on shares of Encompass Health in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Encompass Health from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on Encompass Health from $115.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Barclays upped their target price on Encompass Health from $109.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Encompass Health from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Encompass Health presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $107.11.

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.