HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.78

Key Points

• HCA Healthcare declared a quarterly dividend of $0.78 per share, payable December 29 to shareholders of record as of December 15. The annualized dividend is $3.12 per share, yielding approximately 0.7%.
• The dividend appears well covered, with an 11.1% payout ratio and analysts expecting a 9.7% payout ratio next year; HCA has raised its dividend for six consecutive years.
• HCA shares fell 3.0% to $451.38 despite quarterly earnings of $7.22 per share and revenue of $19.85 billion, both above analyst expectations. Institutional investors own 62.73% of the stock.

HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, October 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.78 per share on Tuesday, December 29th. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 15th.

HCA Healthcare has increased its dividend by an average of 0.3% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 6 years. HCA Healthcare has a dividend payout ratio of 11.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect HCA Healthcare to earn $32.04 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.12 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 9.7%.

HCA Healthcare Stock Down 3.0%

Shares of HCA Healthcare stock traded down $13.88 on Tuesday, hitting $451.38. The stock had a trading volume of 2,907,096 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,343,252. The stock has a market cap of $97.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.10. HCA Healthcare has a twelve month low of $353.99 and a twelve month high of $556.52. The business's 50 day moving average is $431.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $445.15.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The company reported $7.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.65 by $0.57. The business had revenue of $19.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.33 billion. HCA Healthcare had a negative return on equity of 244.79% and a net margin of 8.77%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $6.96 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that HCA Healthcare will post 29.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of HCA Healthcare

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the second quarter worth about $5,069,974,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 20.5% during the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,707,473 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,835,397,000 after purchasing an additional 799,761 shares during the last quarter. Darsana Capital Partners LP increased its position in HCA Healthcare by 46.7% during the 2nd quarter. Darsana Capital Partners LP now owns 1,100,000 shares of the company's stock worth $428,879,000 after purchasing an additional 350,000 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in HCA Healthcare in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $410,992,000. Finally, Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new position in HCA Healthcare in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $371,138,000. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About HCA Healthcare

HCA Healthcare, Inc is a healthcare services company that operates hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, emergency care facilities, physician practices and other healthcare sites. Its facilities provide a broad range of services, including acute and emergency care, surgery, cardiology, oncology, women's and children's services, behavioral health and outpatient care.

The company serves patients primarily across the United States through a network of healthcare facilities in numerous states.

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