What Happened?
Shares of outpatient physical therapy provider U.S. Physical Therapy (NYSE: USPH) jumped 6.5% in the afternoon session after the company announced its acquisition of a 50% interest in a physical therapy management services company.
The acquired firm managed a practice with eight clinic locations that generated approximately $8.0 million in annual revenues and handled 66,000 patient visits per year. U.S. Physical Therapy noted that the current owners retained the remaining 50% interest. This purchase aligned with the company's growth strategy. Adding to the positive sentiment, an analyst from Barrington Research also set a new price target of $103 for the stock.
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What Is The Market Telling Us
U.S. Physical Therapy’s shares are not very volatile and have only had 5 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful, although it might not be something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.
The previous big move we wrote about was 14 days ago when the stock gained 3.7% on the news that RBC Capital upgraded the S&P 500 Health Care sector to Overweight, lifting stocks in the industry.
The upgrade was based on several positive factors, including attractive valuations, improving earnings trends, and renewed interest from investors. RBC Capital noted in a report that they considered the Health Care sector a "preferred defensive" area for investment. The firm also suggested that as investors look to shift their focus from technology stocks, the health care sector stood to gain. This broad positive sentiment for the entire sector likely contributed to the rise in U.S. Physical Therapy's shares.
U.S. Physical Therapy is up 6.8% since the beginning of the year, but at $84.29 per share, it is still trading 9.5% below its 52-week high of $93.16 from October 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of U.S. Physical Therapy’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $695.87.
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