Molina Healthcare (NYSE:MOH – Get Free Report) and HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA – Get Free Report) are both large-cap healthcare companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership and risk.
Earnings & Valuation
This table compares Molina Healthcare and HCA Healthcare”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Molina Healthcare | $44.13 billion | 0.25 | $472.00 million | ($0.96) | -215.80 |
| HCA Healthcare | $75.60 billion | 1.37 | $6.78 billion | $30.18 | 16.45 |
HCA Healthcare has higher revenue and earnings than Molina Healthcare. Molina Healthcare is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than HCA Healthcare, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Institutional & Insider Ownership
98.5% of Molina Healthcare shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 62.7% of HCA Healthcare shares are held by institutional investors. 1.4% of Molina Healthcare shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.5% of HCA Healthcare shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Molina Healthcare and HCA Healthcare, as reported by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Molina Healthcare | 2 | 13 | 3 | 0 | 2.06 |
| HCA Healthcare | 1 | 7 | 16 | 0 | 2.62 |
Molina Healthcare presently has a consensus price target of $213.88, suggesting a potential upside of 3.24%. HCA Healthcare has a consensus price target of $480.13, suggesting a potential downside of 3.30%. Given Molina Healthcare’s higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Molina Healthcare is more favorable than HCA Healthcare.
Profitability
This table compares Molina Healthcare and HCA Healthcare’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Molina Healthcare | -0.11% | 2.50% | 0.65% |
| HCA Healthcare | 8.61% | -198.52% | 10.81% |
Volatility and Risk
Molina Healthcare has a beta of 0.75, indicating that its stock price is 25% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, HCA Healthcare has a beta of 1.11, indicating that its stock price is 11% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Summary
HCA Healthcare beats Molina Healthcare on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Molina Healthcare
Molina Healthcare, Inc. provides managed healthcare services to low-income families and individuals under the Medicaid and Medicare programs and through the state insurance marketplaces. It operates in four segments: Medicaid, Medicare, Marketplace, and Other. The company served in across 19 states. The company was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in Long Beach, California.
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. The company also operates outpatient health care facilities consisting of freestanding ambulatory surgery centers, freestanding emergency care facilities, urgent care facilities, walk-in clinics, diagnostic and imaging centers, rehabilitation and physical therapy centers, radiation and oncology therapy centers, physician practices, and various other facilities. In addition, it operates behavioral hospitals, which provide therapeutic programs comprising child, adolescent and adult psychiatric care, adolescent and adult alcohol, drug abuse treatment, and counseling services. The company was formerly known as HCA Holdings, Inc. HCA Healthcare, Inc. was founded in 1968 and is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee.
Receive News & Ratings for Molina Healthcare Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Molina Healthcare and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
