Amedisys (NASDAQ:AMED) Raised to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Amedisys (NASDAQ:AMED) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Saturday.

AMED has been the subject of a number of other reports. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Amedisys from $97.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Raymond James reissued a market perform rating on shares of Amedisys in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated a neutral rating and set a $101.00 price target on shares of Amedisys in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $100.80.

Amedisys Price Performance

Shares of AMED stock opened at $92.36 on Friday. Amedisys has a 52 week low of $73.10 and a 52 week high of $96.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.02 billion, a PE ratio of -144.31, a PEG ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $92.30 and its 200-day moving average is $93.32.

Amedisys (NASDAQ:AMED) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The health services provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.01. Amedisys had a positive return on equity of 12.85% and a negative net margin of 0.91%. The firm had revenue of $571.41 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $565.38 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.00 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Amedisys will post 4.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Amedisys

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AMED. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise purchased a new position in shares of Amedisys in the first quarter valued at $60,000. Cetera Trust Company N.A bought a new stake in shares of Amedisys during the fourth quarter valued at about $215,000. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Amedisys by 40.4% in the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,629 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $250,000 after buying an additional 757 shares in the last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Amedisys in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $258,000. Finally, Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Amedisys by 9.9% during the fourth quarter. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,844 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $270,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.36% of the company’s stock.

Amedisys Company Profile

Amedisys, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides healthcare services in the United States. It operates through three segments: Home Health, Hospice, and High Acuity Care. The Home Health segment offers a range of services in the homes of individuals for the recovery of patients from surgery, chronic disability, or terminal illness, as well as prevents avoidable hospital readmissions through its skilled nurses; nursing services, rehabilitation therapists specialized in physical, speech, and occupational therapy; and social workers and aides for assisting its patients.