HCA Healthcare (HCA) Stock Price, News & Analysis

Company Overview

HCA Healthcare is a for‑profit operator of healthcare facilities headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1968, the company owns and operates a network of hospitals and related healthcare facilities and has grown through organic expansion and acquisitions to become a large provider of inpatient and outpatient services.

The company's core activities include the operation of acute care hospitals, freestanding surgical and emergency centers, and outpatient clinics. HCA's services encompass inpatient care, surgical services, emergency medicine, diagnostic imaging and laboratory testing, and various outpatient and ambulatory care offerings. The organization also supports physician practices and provides management and administrative services to its clinical operations.

HCA Healthcare serves patients primarily across the United States and maintains a presence in the United Kingdom through its international operations. The company participates in clinical education and training programs, and it invests in health information technology, quality improvement initiatives and care coordination to support clinical outcomes and operational efficiency.

Headquartered in Nashville, HCA is led by senior management focused on integrating clinical care with operational and technological capabilities. The company's strategy emphasizes delivering a broad continuum of care across inpatient and outpatient settings while pursuing partnerships and initiatives that support clinical quality, access and cost management.

Key Stats

• Today's Range: $376.51 to $387.85
• 50-Day Range: $377.72 to $507.17
• 52-Week Range: $330.00 to $556.52
• Volume: 2.35 million shs
• Average Volume: 1.35 million shs
• Market Capitalization: $83.79 billion
• P/E Ratio: 12.99
• Dividend Yield: 0.83%
• Price Target: $515.77
• Consensus Rating: Moderate Buy

HCA Healthcare Stock Analysis - MarketRank™

HCA Healthcare scored higher than 94% of companies evaluated by MarketBeat, and ranked 32nd out of 870 stocks in the medical sector. Scores are calculated by averaging available category scores, with extra weight given to analysis and valuation.

Analyst's Opinion

• Score: 4.3 / 5
• Analyst Rating: Moderate Buy

Consensus Rating

HCA Healthcare has received a consensus rating of Moderate Buy. The company's average rating score is 2.63, and is based on no strong buy ratings, 16 buy ratings, 7 hold ratings, and 1 sell rating.

Upside Potential

HCA Healthcare has a consensus price target of $515.77, representing about 36.6% upside from its current price of $377.72.

Amount of Analyst Coverage

HCA Healthcare has been the subject of 17 research reports in the past 90 days, demonstrating strong analyst interest in this stock.

Earnings and Valuation

• Score: 2.5 / 5
• Proj. Earnings Growth: 9.68%

Earnings Growth

Earnings for HCA Healthcare are expected to grow by 9.68% in the coming year, from $30.07 to $32.98 per share.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. the Market

The P/E ratio of HCA Healthcare is 12.99, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the market average P/E ratio of about 44.97.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. Sector

The P/E ratio of HCA Healthcare is 12.99, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the Medical sector average P/E ratio of about 21.63.

Price to Earnings Growth Ratio

HCA Healthcare has a PEG Ratio of 1.20. PEG Ratios above 1 indicate that a company could be overvalued.

Short Interest

• Score: 3.0 / 5
• Short Interest Level: Healthy

Percentage of Shares Shorted

2.04% of the float of HCA Healthcare has been sold short.

Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover

HCA Healthcare has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 3.64, which is generally considered an acceptable ratio of short interest to trading volume.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in HCA Healthcare has recently increased by 2.86%, indicating that investor sentiment is decreasing.

Dividend

• Score: 2.5 / 5
• Dividend Strength: Moderate

Dividend Yield

HCA Healthcare has a dividend yield of 0.81%, which is in the bottom 25% of all stocks that pay dividends.

Dividend Growth

HCA Healthcare has been increasing its dividend for 6 years.

Dividend Coverage

The dividend payout ratio of HCA Healthcare is 10.73%. This payout ratio is at a healthy, sustainable level, below 75%.

Dividend Sustainability

Based on earnings estimates, HCA Healthcare will have a dividend payout ratio of 9.46% next year. This indicates that HCA Healthcare will be able to sustain or increase its dividend.

News and Social Media

• Score: 2.9 / 5
• News Sentiment: 0.62

News Sentiment

HCA Healthcare has a news sentiment score of 0.62. This score is calculated as an average of sentiment of articles about the company over the last seven days and ranges from 2 (good news) to -2 (bad news). This is a lower news sentiment than the 0.85 average news sentiment score of Medical companies.

News Coverage This Week

MarketBeat has tracked 9 news articles for HCA Healthcare this week, compared to 8 articles on an average week.

Search Interest

Only 16 people have searched for HCA on MarketBeat in the last 30 days. This is a decrease of -20% compared to the previous 30 days.

MarketBeat Follows

10 people have added HCA Healthcare to their MarketBeat watchlist in the last 30 days. This is an increase of 43% compared to the previous 30 days.

Company Ownership

• Score: 0.8 / 5
• Insider Trading: N/A

Insider Buying vs. Insider Selling

In the past three months, HCA Healthcare insiders have not sold or bought any company stock.

Percentage Held by Insiders

1.50% of the stock of HCA Healthcare is held by insiders.

Percentage Held by Institutions

62.73% of the stock of HCA Healthcare is held by institutions. High institutional ownership can be a signal of strong market trust in this company.

Company Calendar

• Record date for 3/31 Dividend: 3/17/2026
• Ex-Dividend for 3/31 Dividend: 3/17/2026
• Dividend Payable: 3/31/2026
• Last Earnings: 4/24/2026
• Today: 5/31/2026
• Record date for 6/30 Dividend: 6/16/2026
• Ex-Dividend for 6/30 Dividend: 6/16/2026
• Dividend Payable: 6/30/2026
• Next Earnings (Estimated): 7/24/2026
• Fiscal Year End: 12/31/2026

Industry, Sector and Symbol

• Stock Exchange: NYSE
• Sector: Medical
• Industry: MED - HOSPITALS
• Sub-Industry: Health Care Facilities
• Current Symbol: NYSE:HCA
• CIK: 860730
• Web: www.hcahealthcare.com
• Phone: (615) 344-9551
• Fax: 302-655-5049
• Employees: 320,000
• Year Founded: 1968

Price Target and Rating

• Average Price Target for HCA Healthcare: $515.77
• High Price Target: $635.00
• Low Price Target: $425.00
• Potential Upside/Downside: +36.6%
• Consensus Rating: Moderate Buy
• Rating Score (0-4): 2.63
• Research Coverage: 24 Analysts

Profitability

• EPS (Trailing Twelve Months): $29.08
• Trailing P/E Ratio: 12.99
• Forward P/E Ratio: 12.56
• P/E Growth: 1.2
• Net Income: $6.78 billion
• Net Margins: 8.89%
• Pretax Margin: 12.82%
• Return on Equity: -295.93%
• Return on Assets: 11.21%

Debt

• Debt-to-Equity Ratio: N/A
• Current Ratio: 0.83
• Quick Ratio: 0.75

Sales & Book Value

• Annual Sales: $76.39 billion
• Price / Sales: 1.10
• Cash Flow: $45.13 per share
• Price / Cash Flow: 8.37
• Book Value: ($13.42) per share
• Price / Book: -28.15

Miscellaneous

• Outstanding Shares: 221,840,000
• Free Float: 218,512,000
• Market Cap: $83.79 billion
• Optionable: Optionable
• Beta: 1.18