Surgery Partners (NASDAQ:SGRY) Upgraded at Zacks Research

Surgery Partners (NASDAQ:SGRY) was upgraded by stock analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms also recently commented on SGRY. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Surgery Partners from $18.00 to $14.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Surgery Partners from $19.00 to $17.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on shares of Surgery Partners from $31.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Surgery Partners from $28.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Surgery Partners in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.18.

Surgery Partners Stock Down 1.9%

SGRY opened at $14.31 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $13.32 and a 200 day moving average of $15.51. The company has a market cap of $1.87 billion, a PE ratio of -23.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.88 and a beta of 1.99. Surgery Partners has a 12 month low of $11.41 and a 12 month high of $24.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 1.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17.

Surgery Partners (NASDAQ:SGRY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported ($0.03) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.15) by $0.12. The company had revenue of $810.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $797.69 million. Surgery Partners had a negative net margin of 2.28% and a positive return on equity of 1.04%. Surgery Partners’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.04 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Surgery Partners will post 0.09 EPS for the current year.

Surgery Partners announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, February 26th that authorizes the company to buyback $200.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 9.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Surgery Partners

In related news, CEO Jason Eric Evans sold 20,400 shares of Surgery Partners stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.47, for a total value of $254,388.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 920,386 shares in the company, valued at $11,477,213.42. This trade represents a 2.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Baldock sold 5,798 shares of Surgery Partners stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.17, for a total transaction of $76,359.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 326,474 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,299,662.58. The trade was a 1.74% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 96,896 shares of company stock worth $1,284,058 in the last three months. 2.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Surgery Partners

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in Surgery Partners by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 13,537,984 shares of the company’s stock worth $209,162,000 after purchasing an additional 501,401 shares during the period. Pentwater Capital Management LP raised its position in Surgery Partners by 66.9% in the 3rd quarter. Pentwater Capital Management LP now owns 11,681,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $252,777,000 after purchasing an additional 4,681,000 shares during the period. UBS Group AG raised its position in Surgery Partners by 111.4% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 7,803,974 shares of the company’s stock worth $120,571,000 after purchasing an additional 4,113,052 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Surgery Partners by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,614,514 shares of the company’s stock worth $164,778,000 after purchasing an additional 424,518 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Surgery Partners by 7.9% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,296,411 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,131,000 after purchasing an additional 389,831 shares during the period.

Surgery Partners Company Profile

Surgery Partners, Inc operates as a healthcare services provider specializing in the management and ownership of ambulatory surgery centers, surgical hospitals and multispecialty rehabilitation hospitals across the United States. Through its network of facilities, the company coordinates and delivers a broad range of outpatient surgical procedures in specialties such as orthopedics, ophthalmology, otolaryngology, gastroenterology, pain management and general surgery. Its integrated platform offers ancillary services including on-site imaging, laboratory testing, infusion therapy and physical, occupational and speech rehabilitation.

Since its establishment in 2010 and subsequent public listing in 2015, Surgery Partners has focused on strategic partnerships with physicians and health systems to expand access to cost-effective outpatient care.