Jefferies & Company Healthcare Update (SKH, AMED, GTIV, AFAM, LHCG)

Jefferies & Co. cited fears of the European economic fallout for last week's sell off in healthcare stocks and said that valuations in defensive equities like Skilled Healthcare Group

, Amedisys

, and Gentiva Health Services

look "increasingly compelling." In addition to AMED and GTIV, Jefferies said that they like Almost Family

and LHC Group

, despite last week's sharp sell off in the names. One of their favorite larger cap names is Express Scripts

, which the firm said was one of their top 5 picks this week. There top pick for the week is SKH, which has jumped 1.76% to $7.52 during today's trading session.