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

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) updated its FY 2024 earnings guidance on Friday. The company provided EPS guidance of 21.600-22.800 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS 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 Upgrades and Downgrades

HCA has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group upped their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $438.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Leerink Partners boosted their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $367.00 to $396.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on HCA Healthcare from $345.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Wolfe Research raised HCA Healthcare to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $365.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, HCA Healthcare presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $367.15.

HCA Healthcare Stock Down 8.8 %

HCA stock traded down $35.15 during trading on Friday, reaching $363.75. The stock had a trading volume of 4,263,574 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,157,541. HCA Healthcare has a one year low of $220.55 and a one year high of $417.14. The company’s 50 day moving average is $395.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $352.63. The company has a market capitalization of $95.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 27.11.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last announced 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 return on equity of 553.13% and a net margin of 8.40%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.29 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare will post 22.51 EPS for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is currently 13.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling at HCA Healthcare

In other news, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 8,358 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $385.42, for a total transaction of $3,221,340.36. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 29,678 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,438,494.76. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, SVP Kathleen M. Whalen sold 2,987 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $363.51, for a total value of $1,085,804.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,454 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,436,623.54. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 8,358 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,678 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,438,494.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 15,345 shares of company stock valued at $5,747,945. Company 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.