HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) Issues FY 2024 Earnings Guidance

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) updated its FY 2024 earnings guidance on Friday. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of 21.600-22.800 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of 22.620. The company issued revenue guidance of $69.8 billion-$71.8 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $70.9 billion.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on HCA shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of HCA Healthcare from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 1st. Leerink Partners boosted their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $367.00 to $396.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on HCA Healthcare in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $427.00 price target on the stock. KeyCorp started coverage on HCA Healthcare in a research report on Friday, October 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $475.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $392.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $377.17.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

NYSE:HCA traded down $35.35 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $363.55. 4,263,823 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,102,547. HCA Healthcare has a 12 month low of $220.55 and a 12 month high of $417.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $93.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.67. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $395.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $352.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 27.11.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.39%.

Insider Activity

In other HCA Healthcare news, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 8,358 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $385.42, for a total value of $3,221,340.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 29,678 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,438,494.76. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 8,358 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $385.42, for a total value of $3,221,340.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 29,678 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,438,494.76. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Kathleen M. Whalen sold 2,987 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $363.51, for a total value of $1,085,804.37. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,454 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,436,623.54. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 15,345 shares of company stock valued at $5,747,945. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

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.