Analyzing Pediatrix Medical Group (NYSE:MD) and HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA)

Pediatrix Medical Group (NYSE:MD) and HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) are both healthcare companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, institutional ownership, profitability, dividends, risk and analyst recommendations.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

97.7% of Pediatrix Medical Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 62.7% of HCA Healthcare shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.8% of Pediatrix Medical Group shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.5% of HCA Healthcare shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Pediatrix Medical Group and HCA Healthcare”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Pediatrix Medical Group	$1.91 billion	1.09	$165.39 million	$2.09	12.24
HCA Healthcare	$78.01 billion	1.19	$6.78 billion	$29.87	14.34

HCA Healthcare has higher revenue and earnings than Pediatrix Medical Group. Pediatrix Medical Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than HCA Healthcare, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Pediatrix Medical Group and HCA Healthcare, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Pediatrix Medical Group	0	5	1	0	2.17
HCA Healthcare	1	8	15	0	2.58

Pediatrix Medical Group presently has a consensus price target of $26.60, indicating a potential upside of 3.97%. HCA Healthcare has a consensus price target of $463.70, indicating a potential upside of 8.29%. Given HCA Healthcare’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe HCA Healthcare is more favorable than Pediatrix Medical Group.

Profitability

This table compares Pediatrix Medical Group and HCA Healthcare’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Pediatrix Medical Group	8.96%	20.05%	8.15%
HCA Healthcare	8.77%	-244.79%	11.10%

Volatility and Risk

Pediatrix Medical Group has a beta of 0.64, indicating that its share price is 36% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, HCA Healthcare has a beta of 1.1, indicating that its share price is 10% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

HCA Healthcare beats Pediatrix Medical Group on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Pediatrix Medical Group

Pediatrix Medical Group, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides newborn, maternal-fetal, pediatric cardiology, and other pediatric subspecialty care services in the United States. It offers neonatal care services, such as clinical care to babies born prematurely or with complications within specific units at hospitals through neonatal physician subspecialists, neonatal nurse practitioners, and other pediatric clinicians. The company also provides maternal-fetal care services, including inpatient and office-based clinical care to expectant mothers and unborn babies through affiliated maternal-fetal medicine subspecialists, as well as obstetricians and other clinicians, including maternal-fetal nurse practitioners, certified nurse mid-wives, sonographers, and genetic counselors. In addition, it offers pediatric cardiology care services comprising inpatient and office-based pediatric cardiology care of the fetus, infant, child, and adolescent patient with congenital heart defects and acquired heart disease, as well as adults with congenital heart defects through affiliated pediatric cardiologist subspecialists and other related clinical professionals, including pediatric nurse practitioners, echocardiographers, other diagnostic technicians, and exercise physiologists; and specialized cardiac care to the fetus, neonatal and pediatric patients. Further, the company provides other pediatric subspecialty care services, such as pediatric intensivists, pediatric hospitalists, pediatric surgeons, and pediatric ophthalmologists, as well as pediatric ear, nose, and throat physicians, pediatric gastroenterologists; and support services in the areas of hospitals, primarily in the pediatric emergency rooms, labor and delivery areas, and nursery and pediatric departments. The company was formerly known as MEDNAX, Inc. and changed its name to Pediatrix Medical Group, Inc. in July 2022. Pediatrix Medical Group, Inc. was founded in 1979 and is based in Sunrise, Florida.

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.