Emergency Medical Services Corp.

Emergency Medical Services Corp. (EMS - Snapshot Report) made several key acquisitions and partnerships this year and continues to expand across the United States. The company also just announced great second-quarter results for its second consecutive earnings surprise.

Company Description

Emergency Medical Services Corp. is a leading provider of emergency medical services. The company provides transportation services directly and through outsource staffing. EMSC operates nationwide in over 2,000 areas and is headquartered in Greenwood Village, Colorado.

A Solid Quarter and Increasing Guidance

On August 5th Emergency Medical Services announced second-quarter results that included earnings per share of 43 cents. The EPS announcement is a 22% year-over-year increase and topped analyst estimates of 39 cents for the second consecutive quarter.

Net revenue also increased, up 10.5% to $571.1 million compared to the same quarter last year. The company attributes the increases to higher rates and volume on its current contracts.

The company continues to raise full-year earnings guidance which is now between $1.70 and $1.75, up from between $1.57 and $1.63 last quarter. Analysts project an earnings growth rate of 23.5%.

Key Acquisitions

Emergency Medical Services announced on August 4th it will acquire the management entity of Clinical Partners, P.A, which provides anesthesiology services in 35 hospitals in several states. The deal will generate around $7 million in service revenue for EMSC.

The company completed the acquisition of River Medical, Inc in March of 2008. River Medical was the sole provider of emergency ambulance services in several areas in the Arizona. The expected annual increase of 12,500 transports should translate to around $8.5 million in revenue.

The Chart

Shares of EMS have recently broken out of a trading channel. After pushing through a resistance level around $25.00, the shares are climbing toward their 52-week high of $35.60. Take a look at the chart below.