UPDATE: Deutsche Bank Downgrades Amedisys Following Q3 Miss

In a report published Wednesday, Deutsche Bank analyst Darren Lehrich downgraded the rating on Amedysis

from Hold to Sell and lowered the price target from $11.00 to $8.00. In the report, Deutsche Bank says "AMED's Q3 miss provides further evidence that the co's operations are unstable, and its margin structure is on even shakier ground heading into rebasing. While the tentative DOJ settlement provides resolution on legacy issues, we believe the size of the fine ($150M), combined with the co's amended credit facility and a lower EBITDA run-rate severely limit AMED's flexibility going forward. We are revising 2014 EBITDA to $42.6M (from $75.8M) and now expect 2014 EPS to be a loss of $0.07 (prior $0.61). The valuation implications of AMED's EBITDA outlook lead us to a Sell rating with AMED trading at 13.8x 2014 EV/EBITDA or nearly twice as expensive as peers." Amedysis closed on Tuesday at $14.32.