Wall Street Stays Amped on Big 3 Home Health Companies

If there is any indication of Wall Street’s continued bullish interest in the home health sector, the surging stock prices experienced by three of the nation’s largest providers is one clear-cut sign, a recent analysis suggests.

Amedisys, Inc. (Nasdaq: AMED), LHC Group (Nasdaq: LHC) and Almost Family, Inc. (Nasdaq: AFAM) are leading the pack for growth, according to the most recent Home Health Index (HHI) from Stoneridge Partners, a merger and acquisition firm that provides intermediary services to home care, hospice and behavioral health agencies.

Following a 3.3% gain in May, Stoneridge’s HHI surged another 11% in June, bringing the year-to-date increase to over 30%. On a year-over-year basis, the Index is now up 95%.

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“Our HH Index has not been at this level since May of 2010, and we are now closing in on our all time high of 41.75 set in September 2008,” Stoneridge notes in a July 1st update.

Each of the publicly-traded home health companies has seen their stock prices grow over the past month, as well as the past year, according to Stonebridge’s analysis.

While Almost Family and LHC Group were up about 4% in June, it was Amedisys that commanded the largest increase with over a 28% gain during the month. The company’s $39.73 stock price at the end of June represents a 137.34% increase when compared to what it was a year ago.

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Meanwhile, Almost Family and LHC recorded one-year growths of 80.75% and 78.99%, respectively.

The growth among these top three firms is particularly impressive, Stonebridge notes, especially when compared to the market as a whole—the S&P 500 now flat for the year, and up only 5% from one year ago.

Written by Jason Oliva

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