NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of AmSurg Corp. (AMSG) are up 2.4% to $48.59 after Cantor Fitzgerald raised their 2014-2015 outlook on the company, boosting their target price to $55 from $42, and upgrading the owner and operator of short stay ambulatory surgery centers in the U.S. to "buy from "hold."
Cantor Fitzgerald said, "We like the freestanding surgery center business, and while we expect bad weather and fewer acquisitions going into 2014 to depress the first half, we look for significant improvement over the balance of the year."
"Notwithstanding this year's slow start, AmSurg's revenue jumped 2% on a "same center" basis in the second half of 2013, in contrast to the very weak demand reported by many hospital chains. We believe that better weather and more deals will leverage this performance in 2014-15," their note concluded.
Must Read: Warren Buffett's 10 Favorite Growth Stocks STOCKS TO BUY: TheStreet Quant Ratings has identified a handful of stocks that can potentially TRIPLE in the next 12 months. Learn more. TheStreet Ratings team rates AMSURG CORP as a Buy with a ratings score of A. TheStreet Ratings Team has this to say about their recommendation: "We rate AMSURG CORP (AMSG) a BUY. This is based on the convergence of positive investment measures, which should help this stock outperform the majority of stocks that we rate. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its robust revenue growth, largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures, solid stock price performance, impressive record of earnings per share growth and compelling growth in net income. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company shows low profit margins." Highlights from the analysis by TheStreet Ratings Team goes as follows: AMSG's revenue growth has slightly outpaced the industry average of 10.4%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues rose by 17.2%. Growth in the company's revenue appears to have helped boost the earnings per share. The debt-to-equity ratio is somewhat low, currently at 0.79, and is less than that of the industry average, implying that there has been a relatively successful effort in the management of debt levels. To add to this, AMSG has a quick ratio of 1.95, which demonstrates the ability of the company to cover short-term liquidity needs. Investors have apparently begun to recognize positive factors similar to those we have mentioned in this report, including earnings growth. This has helped drive up the company's shares by a sharp 51.07% over the past year, a rise that has exceeded that of the S&P 500 Index. Regarding the stock's future course, although almost any stock can fall in a broad market decline, AMSG should continue to move higher despite the fact that it has already enjoyed a very nice gain in the past year. AMSURG CORP has improved earnings per share by 22.4% in the most recent quarter compared to the same quarter a year ago. The company has demonstrated a pattern of positive earnings per share growth over the past two years. We feel that this trend should continue. During the past fiscal year, AMSURG CORP increased its bottom line by earning $2.27 versus $1.96 in the prior year. This year, the market expects an improvement in earnings ($2.47 versus $2.27). The net income growth from the same quarter one year ago has exceeded that of the S&P 500 and greatly outperformed compared to the Health Care Providers & Services industry average. The net income increased by 16.3% when compared to the same quarter one year prior, going from $16.81 million to $19.56 million. You can view the full analysis from the report here: AMSG Ratings Report STOCKS TO BUY: TheStreet Quant Ratings has identified a handful of stocks that can potentially TRIPLE in the next 12 months. Learn more.
Stock quotes in this article: AMSG
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