Ardent Health (NYSE:ARDT) Shares Gap Up on Strong Earnings

Ardent Health, Inc. (NYSE:ARDT) shares gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $10.65, but opened at $11.79. Ardent Health shares last traded at $11.56, with a volume of 170,512 shares traded.

The company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.54 billion. Ardent Health had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 4.11%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Ardent Health from $19.00 to $18.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Bank of America downgraded Ardent Health from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $15.50 to $14.60 in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $21.00 price objective on shares of Ardent Health in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $21.00 price objective on shares of Ardent Health in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Ardent Health from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, July 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $20.30.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd raised its stake in shares of Ardent Health by 558.3% during the 2nd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 67,910 shares of the company’s stock worth $928,000 after buying an additional 57,594 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Ardent Health by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 828,611 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,377,000 after buying an additional 11,429 shares during the period. CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of Ardent Health by 990.6% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,203 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 2,001 shares during the period. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC raised its stake in shares of Ardent Health by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC now owns 87,639 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,197,000 after buying an additional 1,319 shares during the period. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC acquired a new position in shares of Ardent Health during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,383,000.

Ardent Health Trading Up 6.0%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 2.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.61 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.23. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $12.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $13.51.

Ardent Health Company Profile

Ardent Health Partners, Inc owns and operates a network of hospitals and clinics that provides a range of healthcare services in the United States. It operates acute care hospitals, including rehabilitation hospitals and surgical hospitals. The company was founded in 2001 and is based in Brentwood, Tennessee.