Head to Head Survey: Acadia Healthcare (NASDAQ:ACHC) and Community Health Systems (NYSE:CYH)

Acadia Healthcare (NASDAQ:ACHC) and Community Health Systems (NYSE:CYH) are both medical companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, institutional ownership, valuation, profitability, dividends, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Acadia Healthcare and Community Health Systems”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Acadia Healthcare	$3.15 billion	0.67	$255.61 million	$2.03	11.22
Community Health Systems	$12.63 billion	0.04	-$516.00 million	($3.68)	-0.99

Acadia Healthcare has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Community Health Systems. Community Health Systems is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Acadia Healthcare, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

85.0% of Community Health Systems shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.3% of Acadia Healthcare shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 11.7% of Community Health Systems shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Acadia Healthcare and Community Health Systems’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Acadia Healthcare	5.94%	8.72%	4.46%
Community Health Systems	-3.85%	N/A	-0.87%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Acadia Healthcare and Community Health Systems, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Acadia Healthcare	0	4	6	0	2.60
Community Health Systems	2	4	2	0	2.00

Acadia Healthcare currently has a consensus price target of $47.94, suggesting a potential upside of 110.56%. Community Health Systems has a consensus price target of $4.38, suggesting a potential upside of 19.63%. Given Acadia Healthcare’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Acadia Healthcare is more favorable than Community Health Systems.

Risk and Volatility

Acadia Healthcare has a beta of 0.93, meaning that its share price is 7% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Community Health Systems has a beta of 2.06, meaning that its share price is 106% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Acadia Healthcare beats Community Health Systems on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Acadia Healthcare

Acadia Healthcare Company, Inc. provides behavioral healthcare services in the United States and Puerto Rico. The company develops and operates acute inpatient psychiatric facilities, specialty treatment facilities comprising residential recovery facilities and eating disorder facilities, comprehensive treatment centers, and residential treatment centers, as well as facilities offering outpatient behavioral healthcare services for the behavioral healthcare and recovery needs of communities. Acadia Healthcare Company, Inc. was founded in 2005 and is headquartered in Franklin, Tennessee.

About Community Health Systems

Community Health Systems, Inc. owns, leases, and operates general acute care hospitals in the United States. It offers general acute care, emergency room, general and specialty surgery, critical care, internal medicine, obstetrics, diagnostic, psychiatric, and rehabilitation services, as well as skilled nursing and home care services. The company also provides outpatient services at primary care practices, urgent care centers, free-standing emergency departments, ambulatory surgery centers, imaging and diagnostic centers, and direct-to-consumer virtual health visits. The company was incorporated in 1996 and is headquartered in Franklin, Tennessee.