Jefferies Group Comments on LHC Group’s Q3 2017 Earnings (LHCG)

LHC Group (NASDAQ:LHCG) – Equities research analysts at Jefferies Group increased their Q3 2017 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of LHC Group in a research report issued on Thursday. Jefferies Group analyst B. Tanquilut now forecasts that the health services provider will post earnings of $0.65 per share for the quarter, up from their previous forecast of $0.61. Jefferies Group currently has a “Buy” rating and a $68.00 target price on the stock. Jefferies Group also issued estimates for LHC Group’s Q4 2017 earnings at $0.69 EPS, FY2017 earnings at $2.50 EPS and FY2018 earnings at $2.75 EPS.

LHC Group (NASDAQ:LHCG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 2nd. The health services provider reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $260.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $254.10 million. LHC Group had a net margin of 4.13% and a return on equity of 9.62%. The business’s revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.52 earnings per share. ILLEGAL ACTIVITY WARNING: “[[title]]” was first posted by [[site]] and is the property of of [[site]]. If you are accessing this piece of content on another domain, it was illegally copied and republished in violation of United States and international trademark and copyright law. The correct version of this piece of content can be read at [[permalink]].

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on LHCG. Zacks Investment Research upgraded shares of LHC Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $59.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 19th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “buy” rating and issued a $69.00 price objective on shares of LHC Group in a research report on Friday, May 5th. Stephens set a $69.00 price target on shares of LHC Group and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 6th. Oppenheimer Holdings, Inc. reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $68.00 price target (up previously from $55.00) on shares of LHC Group in a research report on Monday, May 8th. Finally, Benchmark Co. lifted their price target on shares of LHC Group from $63.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. LHC Group presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $65.75.

LHC Group (LHCG) opened at 60.85 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $64.67 and a 200 day moving average of $56.16. LHC Group has a 12-month low of $32.04 and a 12-month high of $69.35. The company has a market capitalization of $1.08 billion, a PE ratio of 26.92 and a beta of 0.77.

In other news, COO Donald Dwayne Stelly sold 3,181 shares of LHC Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.97, for a total transaction of $206,669.57. Following the completion of the sale, 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 filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Coliseum Capital Management, L sold 8,632 shares of LHC Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.25, for a total transaction of $520,078.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 682,839 shares of company stock valued at $42,140,531. 14.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its position in shares of LHC Group by 34.5% in the first quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 62,946 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $3,393,000 after buying an additional 16,155 shares in the last quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of LHC Group during the first quarter worth about $241,000. Nationwide Fund Advisors boosted its position in shares of LHC Group by 7.7% in the first quarter. Nationwide Fund Advisors now owns 25,889 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $1,395,000 after buying an additional 1,862 shares in the last quarter. Boston Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of LHC Group by 37.8% in the first quarter. Boston Advisors LLC now owns 11,619 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $626,000 after buying an additional 3,190 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legato Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of LHC Group during the first quarter worth about $940,000. 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.