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

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) issued an update on its FY 2024 earnings guidance on Friday morning. 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.

HCA Healthcare Stock Down 8.9 %

Shares of NYSE:HCA traded down $35.35 during trading on Friday, hitting $363.55. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,263,823 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,102,547. The company has a market capitalization of $93.82 billion, a PE ratio of 17.07, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.67. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $395.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $352.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 27.11, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.06. HCA Healthcare has a fifty-two week low of $220.55 and a fifty-two week high of $417.14.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $5.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.97 by $0.53. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 553.13% and a net margin of 8.40%. The company had revenue of $17.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.05 billion. The business’s revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $4.29 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that HCA Healthcare will post 22.48 EPS for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

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 given a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is 12.39%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on HCA shares. Leerink Partners increased their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $367.00 to $396.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $365.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of HCA Healthcare to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Barclays increased their price target on HCA Healthcare from $376.00 to $396.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $438.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given 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 $377.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Christopher F. Wyatt sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.20, for a total transaction of $1,440,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 40,449 shares in the company, valued at $14,569,729.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other HCA Healthcare news, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 8,358 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $385.42, for a total transaction of $3,221,340.36. Following the sale, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Christopher F. Wyatt sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.20, for a total value of $1,440,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 40,449 shares in the company, valued at $14,569,729.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,345 shares of company stock worth $5,747,945 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

HCA Healthcare Company Profile

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.