HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) Updates FY 2024 Earnings Guidance

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) updated its FY 2024 earnings guidance on Friday. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of 19.700-21.200 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of 20.640. The company issued revenue guidance of $67.8 billion-$70.3 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $69.1 billion. HCA Healthcare also updated its FY24 guidance to $19.70-21.20 EPS.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HCA opened at $314.12 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 35.07. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $324.24 and its 200 day moving average is $294.45. The stock has a market cap of $83.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.65. HCA Healthcare has a 1-year low of $215.96 and a 1-year high of $335.83.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $5.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.85. The business had revenue of $17.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.51 billion. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 996.30% and a net margin of 8.07%. HCA Healthcare’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.64 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare will post 20.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.84%. This is a boost from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is 13.91%.

HCA Healthcare declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, January 30th that permits the company to repurchase $6.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Oppenheimer reiterated an outperform rating and set a $315.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Barclays began coverage on HCA Healthcare in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. They set an overweight rating and a $356.00 price target on the stock. Raymond James increased their target price on HCA Healthcare from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $303.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $330.00 to $359.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $310.88.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Kathleen M. Whalen sold 4,262 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,138,652.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Kathleen M. Whalen sold 4,262 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.21, for a total value of $1,305,067.02. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 10,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,138,652.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 344 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $321.97, for a total value of $110,757.68. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 2,452 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $789,470.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 14,840 shares of company stock worth $4,588,869 in the last quarter. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About HCA Healthcare

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.