HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.35 EPS

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday. The company reported $5.36 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.01 by $0.35, Briefing.com reports. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 674.49% and a net margin of 8.20%. The company had revenue of $17.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.81 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.93 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 Trading Down 2.4 %

Shares of NYSE:HCA opened at $306.69 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $81.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.65. HCA Healthcare has a 1 year low of $215.96 and a 1 year high of $335.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.26, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $323.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $295.45.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

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 given a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is 13.16%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on HCA shares. Raymond James upped their target price on HCA Healthcare from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. StockNews.com upgraded HCA Healthcare from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered HCA Healthcare from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $277.00 to $301.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on HCA Healthcare from $303.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on HCA Healthcare from $320.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, HCA Healthcare currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $310.88.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 652 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $312.04, for a total transaction of $203,450.08. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $90,491.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 652 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $312.04, for a total transaction of $203,450.08. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 290 shares in the company, valued at $90,491.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 876 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.25, for a total value of $289,299.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $520,474. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 14,840 shares of company stock valued at $4,588,869 over the last 90 days. 1.70% 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.