HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) Posts Earnings Results

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday. The company reported $5.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.01 by $0.35, Briefing.com reports. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 996.30%. The business had revenue of $17.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.81 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $4.93 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. HCA Healthcare updated its FY 2024 guidance to 19.700-21.200 EPS and its FY24 guidance to $19.70-21.20 EPS.

HCA Healthcare Stock Down 2.5 %

Shares of HCA stock traded down $7.77 during trading on Friday, reaching $306.35. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,640,434 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,099,795. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 35.07, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.02. HCA Healthcare has a 1-year low of $215.96 and a 1-year high of $335.83. The company has a market capitalization of $81.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.65. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $324.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $294.45.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.86%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.91%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HCA has been the subject of several recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $330.00 to $359.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $320.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $315.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of HCA Healthcare from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, HCA Healthcare has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $310.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 876 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.25, for a total transaction of $289,299.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $520,474. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Kathleen M. Whalen sold 4,262 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.21, for a total value of $1,305,067.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 10,250 shares in the company, valued at $3,138,652.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 876 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.25, for a total transaction of $289,299.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $520,474. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 14,840 shares of company stock worth $4,588,869 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

HCA Healthcare declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 30th that allows the company to repurchase $6.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

HCA Healthcare Company Profile

HCA Healthcare, Inc, through its subsidiaries, owns and operates hospitals and related healthcare entities in the United States. It operates general and acute care hospitals that offers medical and surgical services, including inpatient care, intensive care, cardiac care, diagnostic, and emergency services; and outpatient services, such as outpatient surgery, laboratory, radiology, respiratory therapy, cardiology, and physical therapy.