HCA Healthcare (HCA) to Release Quarterly Earnings on Friday

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) will release its earnings data before the market opens on Friday, April 26th. Analysts expect HCA Healthcare to post earnings of $4.92 per share for the quarter. HCA Healthcare has set its FY24 guidance at $19.70-21.20 EPS and its FY 2024 guidance at 19.700-21.200 EPS.Individual interested in listening to the company’s earnings conference call can do so using this link.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $5.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.85. The company had revenue of $17.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.51 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 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $4.64 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect HCA Healthcare to post $21 EPS for the current fiscal year and $23 EPS for the next fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

Shares of HCA stock opened at $297.00 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $320.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $280.94. HCA Healthcare has a 12-month low of $215.96 and a 12-month high of $335.83. The company has a market capitalization of $78.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 35.07.

HCA Healthcare declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 30th that permits the company to buyback $6.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.89%. This is a boost from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.91%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HCA has been the subject of several recent research reports. StockNews.com cut HCA Healthcare from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on HCA Healthcare from $308.00 to $322.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein cut HCA Healthcare from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $277.00 to $301.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Raymond James increased their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $314.05.

Insider Buying and Selling at HCA Healthcare

In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Sammie S. Mosier sold 1,645 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,646 shares in the company, valued at $2,385,552. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, SVP Sammie S. Mosier sold 1,645 shares of HCA Healthcare 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,646 shares in the company, valued at $2,385,552. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Kathryn A. Torres sold 3,861 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.00, for a total value of $1,185,327.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 15,899 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,880,993. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 14,840 shares of company stock worth $4,588,869 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On HCA Healthcare

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $547,104,000. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 51.5% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,229,190 shares of the company’s stock valued at $534,917,000 after purchasing an additional 758,127 shares in the last quarter. Viking Global Investors LP purchased a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $196,301,000. MFN Partners Management LP boosted its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 102.9% during the 1st quarter. MFN Partners Management LP now owns 1,261,201 shares of the company’s stock worth $316,081,000 after acquiring an additional 639,701 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 25.5% during the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,706,106 shares of the company’s stock worth $461,809,000 after acquiring an additional 347,182 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

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.