Select Medical Holdings Co. to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.06 (NYSE:SEM)

Select Medical Holdings Co. (NYSE:SEM) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, February 21st, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of 0.0625 per share by the health services provider on Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $0.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd.

Select Medical has increased its dividend payment by an average of 10.1% per year over the last three years. Select Medical has a dividend payout ratio of 35.5% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Select Medical to earn $1.17 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.50 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 42.7%.

Select Medical Price Performance

SEM stock traded down $1.44 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $17.63. The company had a trading volume of 2,351,660 shares, compared to its average volume of 835,027. The company has a market capitalization of $2.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.45. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $19.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $28.07. Select Medical has a 1-year low of $16.20 and a 1-year high of $40.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.13.

Select Medical (NYSE:SEM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The health services provider reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $1.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.50 billion. Select Medical had a net margin of 3.97% and a return on equity of 15.99%. Equities research analysts expect that Select Medical will post 1.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the company. StockNews.com raised Select Medical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Select Medical from $40.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Benchmark downgraded Select Medical from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on Select Medical from $40.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $39.50.

Insider Activity at Select Medical

In related news, Director Marilyn B. Tavenner sold 32,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.09, for a total value of $674,880.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 22,000 shares in the company, valued at $463,980. This represents a 59.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Robert G. Breighner, Jr. sold 4,989 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.95, for a total value of $99,530.55. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 30,356 shares in the company, valued at $605,602.20. The trade was a 14.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 19.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Select Medical

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.