Surgery Partners (NASDAQ:SGRY) Sees Strong Trading Volume – Still a Buy?

Surgery Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:SGRY) shares saw unusually-strong trading volume on Thursday . Approximately 1,617,532 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 103% from the previous session’s volume of 797,605 shares.The stock last traded at $20.42 and had previously closed at $20.35.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on SGRY shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Surgery Partners from $38.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Macquarie restated an “outperform” rating and set a $34.00 price target on shares of Surgery Partners in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Surgery Partners in a research report on Monday, October 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $38.00 price target for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $43.00 price target on shares of Surgery Partners in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Surgery Partners from $49.00 to $35.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $36.56.

Surgery Partners Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $2.62 billion, a PE ratio of -42.94, a PEG ratio of 14.18 and a beta of 2.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 1.80. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $21.54 and its 200-day moving average is $27.15.

Surgery Partners (NASDAQ:SGRY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported $0.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $770.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $768.99 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.15 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Surgery Partners, Inc. will post 0.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Surgery Partners

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SGRY. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C grew its stake in shares of Surgery Partners by 47.7% in the 2nd quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C now owns 4,707,287 shares of the company’s stock valued at $111,986,000 after buying an additional 1,520,484 shares during the period. King Street Capital Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Surgery Partners in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $46,748,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Surgery Partners in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,288,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in shares of Surgery Partners by 27.5% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 5,497,368 shares of the company’s stock valued at $177,235,000 after buying an additional 1,184,450 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Surgery Partners by 140.4% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,330,399 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,892,000 after buying an additional 777,038 shares during the period.

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.