Analysts Issue Forecasts for HCA Healthcare FY2027 Earnings

HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) – Investment analysts at Leerink Partnrs upped their FY2027 earnings per share estimates for HCA Healthcare in a note issued to investors on Monday, January 27th. Leerink Partnrs analyst W. Mayo now anticipates that the company will post earnings per share of $32.55 for the year, up from their prior forecast of $30.68. The consensus estimate for HCA Healthcare’s current full-year earnings is $21.75 per share.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.03 by $0.19. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.52% and a return on equity of 520.98%. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.90 EPS.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on HCA. Wells Fargo & Company cut HCA Healthcare from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their target price for the company from $400.00 to $320.00 in a research note on Monday, November 25th. KeyCorp decreased their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $420.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Raymond James downgraded shares of HCA Healthcare from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $384.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, HCA Healthcare has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $382.19.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

HCA opened at $328.39 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 48.71, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The company has a market capitalization of $83.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.64. HCA Healthcare has a 1 year low of $281.61 and a 1 year high of $417.14. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $313.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $353.24.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On HCA Healthcare

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of HCA. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 2nd quarter worth $514,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in HCA Healthcare by 26.9% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 71,817 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,073,000 after buying an additional 15,227 shares during the last quarter. Scientech Research LLC increased its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 6.8% in the second quarter. Scientech Research LLC now owns 751 shares of the company’s stock worth $241,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,992,000. Finally, Creative Planning lifted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 7.2% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 34,574 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,108,000 after acquiring an additional 2,333 shares during the period. 62.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other HCA Healthcare news, insider Erol R. Akdamar sold 2,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $353.00, for a total transaction of $1,023,700.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 6,843 shares in the company, valued at $2,415,579. This trade represents a 29.76 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Phillip G. Billington sold 3,897 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total value of $1,363,950.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 52,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,445,700. This trade represents a 6.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This is a boost from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is currently 11.85%.

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.