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

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) issued an update on its FY 2024 earnings guidance on Friday morning. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of 21.600-22.800 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of 22.620. The company issued revenue guidance of $69.8 billion-$71.8 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $70.9 billion.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HCA has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $392.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of HCA Healthcare to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $427.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $378.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on HCA Healthcare from $390.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $377.17.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

HCA Healthcare stock traded down $35.35 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $363.55. The company had a trading volume of 4,263,823 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,102,547. The firm has a market cap of $93.82 billion, a PE ratio of 17.07, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.67. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $395.06 and a 200 day moving average of $352.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 27.11, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.94. HCA Healthcare has a one year low of $220.55 and a one year high of $417.14.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $5.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.97 by $0.53. The firm had revenue of $17.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.05 billion. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.40% and a return on equity of 553.13%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.29 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that HCA Healthcare will post 22.48 earnings per share for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.39%.

Insider Activity

In other HCA Healthcare news, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 8,358 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $385.42, for a total value of $3,221,340.36. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 29,678 shares in the company, valued at $11,438,494.76. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Christopher F. Wyatt sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.20, for a total value of $1,440,800.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 40,449 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,569,729.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 8,358 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $385.42, for a total value of $3,221,340.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,678 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,438,494.76. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 15,345 shares of company stock worth $5,747,945. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

About HCA Healthcare

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.