HCA Healthcare, Inc. to Post Q4 2024 Earnings of $6.00 Per Share, Zacks Research Forecasts (NYSE:HCA)

HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) – Analysts at Zacks Research cut their Q4 2024 earnings estimates for shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report issued on Thursday, May 9th. Zacks Research analyst Z. Masood now anticipates that the company will post earnings per share of $6.00 for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of $6.07. The consensus estimate for HCA Healthcare’s current full-year earnings is $20.79 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for HCA Healthcare’s Q3 2025 earnings at $5.74 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $23.15 EPS.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on HCA. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $330.00 to $345.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on HCA Healthcare from $371.00 to $360.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $322.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on HCA Healthcare from $330.00 to $359.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $303.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $317.00.

HCA Healthcare Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of HCA opened at $326.65 on Monday. HCA Healthcare has a one year low of $215.96 and a one year high of $335.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.26, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.16. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $321.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $300.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.28, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.66.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $5.36 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.01 by $0.35. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.20% and a return on equity of 674.49%. The business had revenue of $17.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.81 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $4.93 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.16%.

HCA Healthcare declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, January 30th that authorizes the company to repurchase $6.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at HCA Healthcare

In related news, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 876 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.25, for a total transaction of $289,299.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $520,474. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other HCA Healthcare news, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 1,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.00, for a total transaction of $494,400.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 34,124 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,544,316. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 876 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.25, for a total transaction of $289,299.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $520,474. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 3,793 shares of company stock worth $1,198,033. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Stone House Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in HCA Healthcare in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Centerpoint Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in HCA Healthcare in the third quarter worth $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.73% 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.