Community Health Systems (NYSE:CYH) Stock Gets Downgrade from Zacks Research

Community Health Systems (NYSE:CYH) was downgraded by analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report released on Monday, Zacks reports.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Community Health Systems in a research note on Tuesday, September 22nd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $3.00 target price on the stock. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Community Health Systems from $3.00 to $2.50 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Community Health Systems from $2.00 to $1.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Community Health Systems from $3.00 to $2.55 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Community Health Systems from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $2.59.

Community Health Systems Stock Down 2.6%

Shares of CYH stock opened at $2.04 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $2.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $3.03. Community Health Systems has a 12-month low of $2.04 and a 12-month high of $3.92. The firm has a market cap of $288.41 million, a P/E ratio of 7.87 and a beta of 1.90.

Community Health Systems (NYSE:CYH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The company reported ($0.48) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.29) by ($0.19). The business had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.80 billion. Community Health Systems had a net margin of 0.31% and a negative return on equity of 6.66%. The firm’s revenue was down 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.27 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Community Health Systems will post -1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director William Jennings sold 40,000 shares of Community Health Systems stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.96, for a total value of $118,400.00. Following the sale, the director owned 38,468 shares in the company, valued at $113,865.28. The trade was a 50.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Community Health Systems

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Community Health Systems in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $36,508,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in Community Health Systems in the second quarter worth $5,904,000. Helix Partners Management LP bought a new position in Community Health Systems in the second quarter worth $1,336,000. Carronade Capital Management LP raised its holdings in Community Health Systems by 306.7% in the first quarter. Carronade Capital Management LP now owns 1,321,923 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,886,000 after purchasing an additional 996,923 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whitebox Advisors LLC lifted its position in Community Health Systems by 42.1% during the first quarter. Whitebox Advisors LLC now owns 3,127,884 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,196,000 after buying an additional 926,364 shares during the period. 84.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Community Health Systems Company Profile

Community Health Systems, Inc (NYSE: CYH) is a healthcare services company that owns, leases, and operates general acute-care hospitals and related healthcare facilities in the United States. The company focuses primarily on serving communities in small cities and non-urban markets, providing access to hospital-based and outpatient care.

Its services generally include emergency care, inpatient and outpatient treatment, surgery, diagnostic imaging, laboratory services, rehabilitation, and other clinical programs.