Ardent Health (NYSE:ARDT) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

Ardent Health, Inc. (NYSE:ARDT) shares gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $9.27, but opened at $8.45. Ardent Health shares last traded at $7.91, with a volume of 350,431 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ARDT. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Ardent Health from $13.00 to $13.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on Ardent Health from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 9th. Zacks Research upgraded Ardent Health from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. Wall Street Zen raised Ardent Health from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Finally, Leerink Partners decreased their target price on Ardent Health from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $14.21.

Ardent Health Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $9.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.15. The company has a current ratio of 2.12, a quick ratio of 2.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The company has a market capitalization of $1.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.84.

Ardent Health (NYSE:ARDT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.10. Ardent Health had a net margin of 2.09% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The business had revenue of $1.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.58 billion. Ardent Health has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.900-1.270 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Ardent Health, Inc. will post 1.12 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Ardent Health

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in Ardent Health by 11.6% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 361,038 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,090,000 after purchasing an additional 37,627 shares during the period. Amundi acquired a new stake in Ardent Health in the first quarter worth $148,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in Ardent Health by 3.7% in the first quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 29,812 shares of the company’s stock valued at $255,000 after buying an additional 1,072 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in Ardent Health by 159.9% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 121,374 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,039,000 after buying an additional 74,675 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Ardent Health by 70.9% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 478,795 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,098,000 after acquiring an additional 198,595 shares during the period.

About Ardent Health

Ardent Health, listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker ARDT, is a healthcare delivery company focused on acquiring, developing and managing acute care hospitals and complementary outpatient facilities across the United States. The company’s integrated platform encompasses both inpatient and outpatient services, designed to provide end-to-end care solutions and address the full continuum of patient needs.

Through its network, Ardent Health operates general hospitals, emergency departments, ambulatory surgery centers, urgent care clinics, rehabilitation and post-acute care facilities.