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

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday. The company reported $5.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.01 by $0.35, Briefing.com reports. The business had revenue of $17.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.81 billion. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 996.30%. HCA Healthcare’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $4.93 earnings per share. 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 2.5 %

Shares of HCA stock traded down $7.77 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $306.35. 1,640,434 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,099,795. HCA Healthcare has a 12 month low of $215.96 and a 12 month high of $335.83. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 35.07. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $324.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $294.45. The stock has a market cap of $81.02 billion, a PE ratio of 16.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.65.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on HCA shares. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of HCA Healthcare from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $277.00 to $301.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $320.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $335.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $330.00 to $359.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Barclays started coverage on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $356.00 price target on the stock. Four research 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, HCA Healthcare has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $310.88.

Insider Transactions at HCA Healthcare

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

HCA Healthcare announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, January 30th that permits the company to buyback $6.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.