Leerink Partnrs Analysts Lift Earnings Estimates for HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) – Equities research analysts at Leerink Partnrs boosted their Q2 2024 EPS estimates for HCA Healthcare in a report released on Sunday, April 28th. Leerink Partnrs analyst W. Mayo now anticipates that the company will earn $5.44 per share for the quarter, up from their previous forecast of $4.98. The consensus estimate for HCA Healthcare’s current full-year earnings is $20.82 per share. Leerink Partnrs also issued estimates for HCA Healthcare’s Q3 2024 earnings at $4.68 EPS, FY2024 earnings at $21.18 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $6.36 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $6.49 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $5.63 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $25.27 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $27.81 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $30.56 EPS.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $303.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on HCA Healthcare from $322.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Barclays increased their price target on HCA Healthcare from $356.00 to $367.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded HCA Healthcare from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $277.00 to $301.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their target price on HCA Healthcare from $371.00 to $360.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $316.59.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

HCA stock opened at $309.44 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $81.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.43, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.65. HCA Healthcare has a twelve month low of $215.96 and a twelve month high of $335.83. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $323.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $296.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.26.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $5.36 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.01 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $17.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.81 billion. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.20% and a return on equity of 674.49%. The firm’s revenue was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.93 earnings per share.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On HCA Healthcare

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sanders Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 11,404,003 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,086,836,000 after buying an additional 456,738 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,186,129 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,757,181,000 after acquiring an additional 170,560 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 35.7% during the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 4,503,918 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,219,121,000 after acquiring an additional 1,183,890 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $694,985,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,152,419 shares of the company’s stock valued at $529,452,000 after acquiring an additional 67,332 shares in the last quarter. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at HCA Healthcare

In other news, SVP Sammie S. Mosier sold 1,645 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $312.00, for a total transaction of $513,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,646 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,385,552. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Sammie S. Mosier sold 1,645 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $312.00, for a total value of $513,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,646 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,385,552. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 10,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,138,652.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 7,779 shares of company stock worth $2,421,814. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

HCA Healthcare announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, January 30th that authorizes the company to repurchase $6.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is currently 13.16%.

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.