Kindred Healthcare Shares Rise On 1Q Profit

NEW YORK (AP) — Shares of hospital operator and health care services company Kindred Healthcare Inc. jumped Tuesday after the company topped first-quarter profit forecasts and reaffirmed its full-year outlook.

The stock rose $1.16, or 7.8 percent, to reach $16.07 in afternoon trading. Shares have traded between $8.12 and $33.25 over the last 52 weeks.

Late Thursday, the Louisville, Ky.-based company said it earned $22.8 million, or 58 cents per share, compared with profit of $14.7 million, or 37 cents per share, during the same period a year prior. Revenue rose 3 percent to $1.08 billion from $1.05 billion.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected profit of 44 cents per share on revenue of $1.09 billion.

Hospital admissions fell 2 percent overall and 1 percent on a same-facility basis.

Still, revenue from the hospital division rose 3 percent to $492.5 million while health services division revenue rose 2 percent to $544.9 million.

"While our hospital and nursing center volumes were somewhat soft in the first quarter, we did a better job of managing our costs, particularly contract labor and premium pay, in line with our patient census levels," said President and Chief Executive Paul J. Diaz, in a statement Monday.