Hedge Fund Manager David Einhorn Flags Acadia Healthcare As Recent Buy

Acadia Healthcare Company Inc. (NASDAQ:ACHC) shares jumped on Wednesday after hedge fund manager David Einhorn revealed he has been buying the stock, igniting renewed investor interest in the behavioral healthcare operator.

Einhorn Highlights Recent Purchases

Einhorn, founder of Greenlight Capital, disclosed his position in Acadia Healthcare during an appearance on CNBC’s ‘Money Movers’ on Wednesday.

Acadia Healthcare shares surged as high as 15% on Wednesday after a hedge fund manager disclosed it as a recent buy.

Technical Analysis

Currently, Acadia is trading 10.4% above its 20-day simple moving average (SMA) and 5.5% above its 50-day SMA, indicating short-term strength. However, it remains 16.8% below its 100-day SMA and 26.3% below its 200-day SMA, suggesting longer-term challenges. Shares have decreased 64.48% over the past 12 months and are positioned closer to their 52-week lows than highs.

The RSI is at 49.02, which is considered neutral territory, indicating that the stock is neither overbought nor oversold. Meanwhile, the MACD is above its signal line, suggesting bullish momentum.

The combination of neutral RSI and bullish MACD suggests mixed momentum, indicating that while there is some strength, caution may still be warranted.

• Key Resistance: $15.50
• Key Support: $13.00

Earnings & Analyst Outlook

The countdown is on: Acadia Healthcare Company is set to report earnings on Feb. 25.

• EPS Estimate: 4 cents (Down from 64 cents YoY)
• Revenue Estimate: $799.53 million (Up from $774.24 million YoY)
• Valuation: P/E of 11.8x (Indicates value opportunity)

Analyst Consensus & Recent Actions: The stock carries a Buy Rating with an average price forecast of $35.37. Recent analyst moves include:

• RBC Capital: Outperform (Lowers Target to $17.00) (Jan. 14)
• Jefferies: Downgraded to Hold (Lowers Target to $15.00) (Jan. 22)
• TD Cowen: Buy (Lowers Target to $22.00) (Jan. 16)

Benzinga Edge Rankings

Below is the Benzinga Edge scorecard for Acadia Healthcare Company, highlighting its strengths and weaknesses compared to the broader market:

• Value: 95.76 — The stock is considered a strong value opportunity relative to its peers.
• Quality: 19.25 — Indicates weaker performance in terms of quality metrics.
• Momentum: 2.14 — The stock is underperforming the broader market.

ACHC Price Action: Acadia Healthcare Co shares were up 12.74% at $15.40 at the time of publication on Wednesday, according to Benzinga Pro data.

Photo Courtesy: Beautyimage on Shutterstock.com