HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) Updates FY24 Earnings Guidance

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA - Get Free Report) issued an update on its FY24 earnings guidance on Friday morning. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of $19.70-21.20 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.60. The company issued revenue guidance of $67.75-70.25 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $69.06 billion. HCA Healthcare also updated its FY 2024 guidance to 19.700-21.200 EPS.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

NYSE:HCA traded down $7.52 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $306.60. The stock had a trading volume of 2,257,039 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,107,586. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $324.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $294.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $81.09 billion, a PE ratio of 16.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 35.07, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.02. HCA Healthcare has a 12 month low of $215.96 and a 12 month high of $335.83.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $5.36 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.01 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $17.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.81 billion. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 996.30%. HCA Healthcare's revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.93 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare will post 20.58 earnings per share for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.86%. HCA Healthcare's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.91%.

HCA Healthcare declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 30th that permits the company to repurchase $6.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on HCA. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $330.00 to $359.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $308.00 to $322.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an overweight rating and set a $335.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of HCA Healthcare from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report on Monday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, HCA Healthcare presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $310.88.

Insider Transactions at HCA Healthcare

In other news, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 652 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $312.04, for a total transaction of $203,450.08. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 290 shares in the company, valued at approximately $90,491.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 652 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $312.04, for a total value of $203,450.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 290 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $90,491.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 344 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $321.97, for a total transaction of $110,757.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,452 shares of the company's stock, valued at $789,470.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 14,840 shares of company stock worth $4,588,869 in the last quarter. 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.