HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) Updates FY24 Earnings Guidance

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) updated its FY24 earnings guidance on Friday. The company provided EPS guidance of $19.70-21.20 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of $20.60. The company issued revenue guidance of $67.75-70.25 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $69.06 billion. HCA Healthcare also updated its FY 2024 guidance to 19.700-21.200 EPS.

HCA Healthcare Stock Down 2.4 %

Shares of HCA opened at $306.60 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $323.94 and a 200 day moving average of $295.00. The company has a market cap of $81.09 billion, a PE ratio of 16.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 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.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $5.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.01 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $17.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.81 billion. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 996.30% and a net margin of 8.07%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.93 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that HCA Healthcare will post 20.58 EPS for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is currently 13.91%.

HCA Healthcare declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, January 30th that allows the company to buyback $6.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on HCA shares. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded HCA Healthcare from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and raised their price objective for the company from $277.00 to $301.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $303.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $330.00 to $359.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an overweight rating and issued a $335.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an outperform rating and issued a $315.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, HCA Healthcare presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $310.88.

Insider Transactions at HCA Healthcare

In other news, SVP Kathryn A. Torres sold 3,861 shares of the company’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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 15,899 shares in the company, valued at $4,880,993. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 876 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.25, for a total value of $289,299.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,576 shares in the company, valued at $520,474. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kathryn A. Torres sold 3,861 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were 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. Insiders have sold 14,840 shares of company stock worth $4,588,869 over the last quarter. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

HCA Healthcare Company Profile

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.