BidaskClub Lowers LHC Group (LHCG) to Hold

BidaskClub lowered shares of LHC Group (NASDAQ:LHCG) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Tuesday, July 25th.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on LHCG. Zacks Investment Research lowered shares of LHC Group from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, July 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a buy rating on shares of LHC Group in a research note on Tuesday, June 13th. Jefferies Group LLC reissued a buy rating and set a $65.00 target price on shares of LHC Group in a research note on Friday, June 9th. Benchmark Co. lifted their target price on shares of LHC Group from $63.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, June 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer Holdings, Inc. reissued an outperform rating and set a $68.00 target price (up previously from $55.00) on shares of LHC Group in a research note on Monday, May 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The company currently has a consensus rating of Buy and an average target price of $64.38.

LHC Group (NASDAQ:LHCG) traded up 1.37% during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $60.85. The stock had a trading volume of 192,237 shares. LHC Group has a one year low of $32.04 and a one year high of $69.35. The stock has a market cap of $1.08 billion, a PE ratio of 26.92 and a beta of 0.77. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $64.67 and its 200 day moving average is $56.16.

LHC Group (NASDAQ:LHCG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 2nd. The health services provider reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $260.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $254.10 million. LHC Group had a net margin of 4.09% and a return on equity of 9.48%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.52 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that LHC Group will post $2.36 EPS for the current year.

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In related news, COO Donald Dwayne Stelly sold 3,181 shares of LHC Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.97, for a total value of $206,669.57. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 114,235 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,421,847.95. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Coliseum Capital Management, L sold 14,450 shares of LHC Group stock in a transaction on Friday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.69, for a total transaction of $949,220.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 682,839 shares of company stock worth $42,140,531 in the last 90 days. 14.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LHCG. Federated Investors Inc. PA increased its position in shares of LHC Group by 4.2% in the second quarter. Federated Investors Inc. PA now owns 1,622 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $110,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the period. Cadence Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of LHC Group by 5.8% in the second quarter. Cadence Capital Management LLC now owns 22,086 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $1,499,000 after buying an additional 1,203 shares during the period. Columbus Circle Investors purchased a new position in shares of LHC Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,863,000. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System increased its position in shares of LHC Group by 44.1% in the second quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 24,876 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $1,689,000 after buying an additional 7,616 shares during the period. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of LHC Group by 23.9% in the second quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 204,729 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $13,899,000 after buying an additional 39,483 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.63% of the company’s stock.

LHC Group Company Profile

LHC Group, Inc is a holding company. The Company provides post-acute healthcare services to patients through its home nursing agencies, hospice agencies, community-based services agencies and long-term acute care hospitals (LTACHs). The Company operates through four segments: home health services, hospice services, community-based services and facility-based services.