Morgan Keegan Previews SKH; EPS Estimate Of $0.29 Is $0.01 Below First Call Consensus

Morgan Keegan reports that its EPS estimate of $0.29 versus $0.24 in the prior year period is “$0.01 below the First Call consensus.” “Skilled Healthcare Group, Inc. SKH reported a strong fourth quarter as recent home health and hospice acquisitions, combined with the favorable impact of the new Medicare RUG-IV payment system, lifted revenues and earnings above our expectations,” Morgan Keegan writes. “We expect a continuation in the current quarter, though uncertainty about Medicaid rates in the company's two largest states, California and Texas, are an overhang. “We expect the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to announce proposed Medicare cuts for fiscal 2012 prior the Skilled's earnings release. We do not expect a Medicare rate cut to offset RUG-IV until next year.” Skilled Healthcare Group closed Thursday at $14.78.