HCA Healthcare (HCA) Scheduled to Post Earnings on Friday

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) is scheduled to be releasing its earnings data before the market opens on Friday, April 26th. Analysts expect HCA Healthcare to post earnings of $4.92 per share for the quarter. HCA Healthcare has set its FY24 guidance at $19.70-21.20 EPS and its FY 2024 guidance at 19.700-21.200 EPS.Persons that wish to listen to the company’s earnings conference call can do so using this link.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $5.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.85. The business had revenue of $17.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.51 billion. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 996.30% and a net margin of 8.07%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.64 EPS. On average, analysts expect HCA Healthcare to post $21 EPS for the current fiscal year and $23 EPS for the next fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE HCA opened at $319.14 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $84.41 billion, a PE ratio of 16.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 35.07. HCA Healthcare has a 52-week low of $215.96 and a 52-week high of $335.83. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $324.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $293.84.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This is a boost from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.83%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is 13.91%.

HCA Healthcare announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 30th that permits the company to repurchase $6.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HCA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com raised HCA Healthcare from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $315.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $303.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Raymond James upped their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $335.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $310.88.

Insider Activity at HCA Healthcare

In related news, SVP Kathleen M. Whalen sold 4,262 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.21, for a total value of $1,305,067.02. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 10,250 shares in the company, valued at $3,138,652.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Kathleen M. Whalen sold 4,262 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.21, for a total value of $1,305,067.02. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 10,250 shares in the company, valued at $3,138,652.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kathryn A. Torres sold 3,861 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.00, for a total value of $1,185,327.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 15,899 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,880,993. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 14,840 shares of company stock worth $4,588,869. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.