UHS vs. ALC, THC, EHC, ENSG, ACHC, SEM, BKD, USPH, WOOF, and CYH
Should you be buying Universal Health Services stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of Universal Health Services include Alcon (ALC), Tenet Healthcare (THC), Encompass Health (EHC), The Ensign Group (ENSG), Acadia Healthcare (ACHC), Select Medical (SEM), Brookdale Senior Living (BKD), U.S. Physical Therapy (USPH), Petco Health and Wellness (WOOF), and Community Health Systems (CYH). These companies are all part of the "health care facilities" industry.
Universal Health Services vs. Its Competitors
Alcon (NYSE:ALC) and Universal Health Services (NYSE:UHS) are both large-cap medical companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, media sentiment, earnings, dividends, risk, institutional ownership, profitability and valuation.
Alcon has a beta of 0.95, indicating that its stock price is 5% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Universal Health Services has a beta of 1.28, indicating that its stock price is 28% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Alcon has a net margin of 11.28% compared to Universal Health Services' net margin of 7.44%. Universal Health Services' return on equity of 17.79% beat Alcon's return on equity.
In the previous week, Universal Health Services had 10 more articles in the media than Alcon. MarketBeat recorded 12 mentions for Universal Health Services and 2 mentions for Alcon. Universal Health Services' average media sentiment score of 1.46 beat Alcon's score of 0.17 indicating that Universal Health Services is being referred to more favorably in the news media.
Universal Health Services has higher revenue and earnings than Alcon. Universal Health Services is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Alcon, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
53.9% of Alcon shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 86.1% of Universal Health Services shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.5% of Alcon shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 16.4% of Universal Health Services shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Alcon presently has a consensus price target of $106.13, indicating a potential upside of 18.87%. Universal Health Services has a consensus price target of $224.77, indicating a potential upside of 21.80%. Given Universal Health Services' higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Universal Health Services is more favorable than Alcon.
Summary
Universal Health Services beats Alcon on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.
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New MarketBeat Followers Over Time
This chart shows the number of new MarketBeat users adding UHS and its top 5 competitors to their watchlist. Each company is represented with a line over a 90 day period.
Media Sentiment Over Time
This chart shows the average media sentiment of NYSE and its competitors over the past 90 days as caculated by MarketBeat. The averaged score is equivalent to the following: Very Negative Sentiment <= -1.5, Negative Sentiment > -1.5 and <= -0.5, Neutral Sentiment > -0.5 and < 0.5, Positive Sentiment >= 0.5 and < 1.5, and Very Positive Sentiment >= 1.5.
Universal Health Services Competitors List
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This page (NYSE:UHS) was last updated on 7/3/2025 by MarketBeat.com Staff
