Ardent Health (NYSE:ARDT) Shares Gap Up After Earnings Beat

Key Points

• Ardent Health's stock price gapped up to $11.79 after reporting quarterly earnings of $0.52 per share, exceeding the expected $0.30 per share.
• The company reported a revenue of $1.65 billion, outperforming the consensus estimate of $1.54 billion.
• Analysts maintain a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average target price of $20.30 for Ardent Health's stock.

Shares of Ardent Health, Inc. (NYSE:ARDT - Get Free Report) gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $10.65, but opened at $11.79. Ardent Health shares last traded at $11.56, with a volume of 170,512 shares traded.

The company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.54 billion. Ardent Health had a return on equity of 16.66% and a net margin of 4.11%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Bank of America lowered Ardent Health from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $15.50 to $14.60 in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $21.00 price target on shares of Ardent Health in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Guggenheim raised their target price on Ardent Health from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. KeyCorp cut their target price on Ardent Health from $24.00 to $20.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Ardent Health from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ardent Health currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $19.97.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARDT. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Ardent Health in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. CWM LLC grew its stake in shares of Ardent Health by 990.6% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,203 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 2,001 shares during the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new position in shares of Ardent Health in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in shares of Ardent Health by 1,251.9% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 2,866 shares of the company's stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 2,654 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP grew its stake in shares of Ardent Health by 1,519.4% in the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 5,020 shares of the company's stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 4,710 shares during the last quarter.

Ardent Health Stock Up 3.5%

The company has a current ratio of 2.13, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $12.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $13.47. The company has a market capitalization of $1.70 billion and a PE ratio of 6.56.

About Ardent Health

Ardent Health Partners, Inc owns and operates a network of hospitals and clinics that provides a range of healthcare services in the United States. It operates acute care hospitals, including rehabilitation hospitals and surgical hospitals. The company was founded in 2001 and is based in Brentwood, Tennessee.