Stock Alert: U.S. Physical Therapy Slips 17%

(RTTNews) - Shares of U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. (USPH) sank $22.40 or 17.69% on Thursday after the operator of outpatient physical therapy clinics' fourth-quarter earnings missed estimates.

The outlook provided for the full-year earnings is also below the Street view.

The company also said it has acquired approximately 65% of the equity interests of a four clinic physical therapy practice with more than $6.6 million annual revenue.

Net income in the fourth quarter increased to $7.09 million or $0.55 per share from $5.49 million or $0.43 per share in the same quarter a year ago. Excluding items, earnings of $0.64 per share missed the average estimate of 5 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters at $0.68.

Net revenues increased 4.1%, year-on-year to $122.11 million.

For the full-year, U.S. Physical Therapy expects earnings to be in the range of $2.98 to $3.10 per share. The consensus estimate remains at $3.15.

The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.32 per share to be paid on April 17, to shareholders of record as of March 13.

USPH closed Thursday's trading at $104.19, close to its 52-week low of $102.92.