Ardent Health (NYSE:ARDT) Trading Up 9% – Here’s Why

Ardent Health, Inc. (NYSE:ARDT) traded up 9% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $11.35 and last traded at $11.3540. 38,422 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 91% from the average daily volume of 451,761 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.42.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ARDT. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on Ardent Health from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ardent Health from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, July 12th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Ardent Health from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Ardent Health from $13.00 to $13.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Ardent Health in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $14.04.

Ardent Health Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $1.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 2.12 and a quick ratio of 2.00. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $9.35.

Ardent Health (NYSE:ARDT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $1.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.58 billion. Ardent Health had a net margin of 2.09% and a return on equity of 13.85%. Ardent Health has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.900-1.270 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Ardent Health, Inc. will post 1.06 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Ardent Health

In related news, CFO Alfred Lumsdaine acquired 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $8.81 per share, with a total value of $88,100.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer directly owned 329,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,900,102.23. This represents a 3.13% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ardent Health

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Goldentree Asset Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Ardent Health by 99.7% during the fourth quarter. Goldentree Asset Management LP now owns 2,303,113 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,302,000 after purchasing an additional 1,150,000 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in Ardent Health by 8.2% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,769,335 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,444,000 after buying an additional 134,513 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Ardent Health by 44.5% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,352,676 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,923,000 after buying an additional 416,348 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in Ardent Health by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,269,605 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,822,000 after buying an additional 78,861 shares during the period. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC raised its position in Ardent Health by 108.2% during the 4th quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 946,571 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,358,000 after buying an additional 491,961 shares during the last quarter.

About Ardent Health

Ardent Health, listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker ARDT, is a healthcare delivery company focused on acquiring, developing and managing acute care hospitals and complementary outpatient facilities across the United States. The company’s integrated platform encompasses both inpatient and outpatient services, designed to provide end-to-end care solutions and address the full continuum of patient needs.

Through its network, Ardent Health operates general hospitals, emergency departments, ambulatory surgery centers, urgent care clinics, rehabilitation and post-acute care facilities.