Encompass Health (EHC) Competitors

Select Medical (NYSE:SEM) and Encompass Health (NYSE:EHC) are both mid-cap medical companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, dividends, media sentiment, institutional ownership, earnings, community ranking, valuation and profitability.

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in SEM or EHC?

Encompass Health received 159 more outperform votes than Select Medical when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 71.83% of users gave Encompass Health an outperform vote while only 57.85% of users gave Select Medical an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Select Medical	Outperform Votes 328 57.85%	Underperform Votes 239 42.15%
Encompass Health	Outperform Votes 487 71.83%	Underperform Votes 191 28.17%

Does the media prefer SEM or EHC?

In the previous week, Encompass Health had 8 more articles in the media than Select Medical. MarketBeat recorded 21 mentions for Encompass Health and 13 mentions for Select Medical. Encompass Health's average media sentiment score of 0.79 beat Select Medical's score of 0.71 indicating that Select Medical is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Select Medical	5 Very Positive mention(s)	4 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Encompass Health	6 Very Positive mention(s)	5 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is SEM or EHC a better dividend stock?

Select Medical pays an annual dividend of $0.50 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.5%. Encompass Health pays an annual dividend of $0.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. Select Medical pays out 23.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Encompass Health pays out 16.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years.

Do analysts recommend SEM or EHC?

Select Medical presently has a consensus target price of $34.25, suggesting a potential upside of 1.96%. Encompass Health has a consensus target price of $90.29, suggesting a potential upside of 4.34%. Given Select Medical's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Encompass Health is more favorable than Select Medical.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Select Medical	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50
Encompass Health	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.13

Which has more risk & volatility, SEM or EHC?

Select Medical has a beta of 1.38, indicating that its share price is 38% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Encompass Health has a beta of 0.92, indicating that its share price is 8% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do insiders and institutionals believe in SEM or EHC?

89.5% of Select Medical shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 97.3% of Encompass Health shares are owned by institutional investors. 19.1% of Select Medical shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 2.1% of Encompass Health shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Is SEM or EHC more profitable?

Encompass Health has a net margin of 7.60% compared to Encompass Health's net margin of 3.97%. Encompass Health's return on equity of 18.11% beat Select Medical's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Select Medical	3.97%	18.11%	3.64%
Encompass Health	7.60%	18.01%	6.55%

Which has better earnings & valuation, SEM or EHC?

Encompass Health has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Select Medical. Select Medical is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Encompass Health, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Select Medical	$6.66B	0.66	$243.49M	$2.10	16.00
Encompass Health	$4.80B	1.81	$352M	$3.70	23.39

Summary

Encompass Health beats Select Medical on 15 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.