Universal Health Services, Inc. Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.20 (NYSE:UHS)

Universal Health Services, Inc. (NYSE:UHS) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, November 20th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be given a dividend of 0.20 per share by the health services provider on Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 3rd.

Universal Health Services has raised its dividend by an average of 58.7% annually over the last three years. Universal Health Services has a dividend payout ratio of 4.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Universal Health Services to earn $17.71 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.80 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 4.5%.

Universal Health Services Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE UHS opened at $197.59 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $218.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $205.89. The company has a market capitalization of $13.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.29. Universal Health Services has a 1 year low of $133.70 and a 1 year high of $243.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.28.

Universal Health Services (NYSE:UHS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The health services provider reported $3.71 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.75 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $3.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.90 billion. Universal Health Services had a return on equity of 15.75% and a net margin of 6.66%. Universal Health Services’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.55 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Universal Health Services will post 15.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on UHS. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Universal Health Services in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $223.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Universal Health Services from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Universal Health Services from $222.00 to $211.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 28th. UBS Group raised their price target on Universal Health Services from $247.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, KeyCorp began coverage on Universal Health Services in a research note on Friday, October 11th. They issued a “sector weight” rating for the company. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $231.14.

About Universal Health Services

Universal Health Services, Inc, through its subsidiaries, owns and operates acute care hospitals, and outpatient and behavioral health care facilities. It operates through Acute Care Hospital Services and Behavioral Health Care Services segments. The company's hospitals offer general and specialty surgery, internal medicine, obstetrics, emergency room care, radiology, oncology, diagnostic and coronary care, pediatric services, pharmacy services, and/or behavioral health services.