HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) Releases FY24 Earnings Guidance

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) updated its FY24 earnings guidance on Friday. The company provided earnings per share guidance of $19.70-21.20 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of $20.60. The company issued revenue guidance of $67.75-70.25 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $69.06 billion. HCA Healthcare also updated its FY 2024 guidance to 19.700-21.200 EPS.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on HCA. Barclays began coverage on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. They issued an overweight rating and a $356.00 price objective on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $330.00 to $359.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an overweight rating and issued a $335.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of HCA Healthcare from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and boosted their target price for the company from $277.00 to $301.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, HCA Healthcare has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $310.88.

HCA Healthcare Trading Down 2.4 %

HCA traded down $7.52 on Friday, reaching $306.60. 2,257,039 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,107,586. The company’s 50 day moving average is $323.94 and its 200-day moving average is $295.00. The company has a market cap of $81.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.15, a PEG ratio of 1.54 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 company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 35.07, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.18.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $5.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.01 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $17.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.81 billion. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 996.30%. The company’s revenue was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.93 EPS. Equities analysts predict that HCA Healthcare will post 20.58 earnings per share for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.86%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.91%.

HCA Healthcare declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, January 30th that authorizes the company to repurchase $6.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 876 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was 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 directly owns 1,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $520,474. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, SVP Kathryn A. Torres sold 3,861 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.00, for a total transaction of $1,185,327.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,899 shares in the company, valued at $4,880,993. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 876 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.25, for a total value of $289,299.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,576 shares in the company, valued at $520,474. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 14,840 shares of company stock worth $4,588,869 in the last 90 days. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.