Brokers Set Expectations for HCA Healthcare FY2025 Earnings

Key Points

• Zacks Research has raised its FY2025 earnings per share forecast for HCA Healthcare from $25.07 to $25.91, above the consensus estimate of $24.98.
• HCA Healthcare's stock rating varies among analysts, with nine rating it as a buy, nine as hold, and one as strong buy, reflecting a current average rating of "Moderate Buy".
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.72 per share, which will be paid on September 30th, offering an annual yield of 0.8%.

HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Free Report) - Zacks Research boosted their FY2025 earnings per share estimates for HCA Healthcare in a report issued on Friday, August 8th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now forecasts that the company will post earnings of $25.91 per share for the year, up from their prior forecast of $25.07. The consensus estimate for HCA Healthcare's current full-year earnings is $24.98 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for HCA Healthcare's Q1 2026 earnings at $6.82 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $6.68 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $5.75 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $7.38 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $26.62 EPS.

HCA has been the subject of several other reports. Wolfe Research cut HCA Healthcare from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Bank of America cut HCA Healthcare from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $394.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Wall Street Zen raised HCA Healthcare from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, July 5th. Baird R W cut HCA Healthcare from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on HCA Healthcare from $410.00 to $400.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 28th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, HCA Healthcare presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $395.69.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

Shares of HCA stock opened at $381.84 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $369.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $349.53. The stock has a market cap of $89.35 billion, a PE ratio of 16.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.39. HCA Healthcare has a 1 year low of $289.98 and a 1 year high of $417.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.98.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 25th. The company reported $6.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.20 by $0.64. The firm had revenue of $18.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $18.49 billion. HCA Healthcare had a negative return on equity of 7,363.11% and a net margin of 8.21%. HCA Healthcare's revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.50 earnings per share.

Institutional Trading of HCA Healthcare

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cheviot Value Management LLC acquired a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Saudi Central Bank purchased a new position in HCA Healthcare in the first quarter valued at about $26,000. WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new position in HCA Healthcare in the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new position in HCA Healthcare in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Chung Wu Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in HCA Healthcare in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Jon M. Foster sold 15,698 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $369.32, for a total value of $5,797,585.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 12,646 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,670,420.72. This represents a 55.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. HCA Healthcare's dividend payout ratio is currently 12.11%.

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.

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