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

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) updated its FY 2024 earnings guidance on Friday. The company provided EPS guidance of 19.700-21.200 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS 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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on HCA Healthcare from $308.00 to $322.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on HCA Healthcare from $330.00 to $359.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Oppenheimer restated an outperform rating and issued a $315.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Barclays began coverage on HCA Healthcare in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. They issued an overweight rating and a $356.00 price target for the company. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein cut HCA Healthcare from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $277.00 to $301.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, HCA Healthcare currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $310.88.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

Shares of HCA stock traded down $7.43 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $306.69. The company had a trading volume of 2,257,051 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,051,296. HCA Healthcare has a 12 month low of $215.96 and a 12 month high of $335.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $81.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.29, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.65. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $323.94 and its 200 day moving average is $295.45. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $5.36 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.01 by $0.35. The business had revenue of $17.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.81 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 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $4.93 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that HCA Healthcare will post 20.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.16%.

HCA Healthcare announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, January 30th that allows the company to buyback $6.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 344 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The stock was 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 approximately $789,470.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, SVP Kathleen M. Whalen sold 4,262 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,138,652.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 344 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The stock was 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. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 14,840 shares of company stock valued at $4,588,869. 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.