HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) Shares Gap Down After Analyst Downgrade

HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday after KeyCorp lowered their price target on the stock from $510.00 to $475.00. The stock had previously closed at $390.74, but opened at $354.35. KeyCorp currently has an overweight rating on the stock. HCA Healthcare shares last traded at $364.2390, with a volume of 1,129,924 shares trading hands.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $525.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of HCA Healthcare from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Truist Financial set a $413.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on HCA Healthcare from $500.00 to $431.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on HCA Healthcare from $593.00 to $534.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $495.18.

Key Stories Impacting HCA Healthcare

Here are the key news stories impacting HCA Healthcare this week:

• Positive Sentiment: HCA’s preliminary second-quarter revenue came in above Wall Street expectations, with the company guiding to about $20.23 billion for the quarter, suggesting demand and patient volumes remain solid. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: KeyCorp kept an Overweight rating on HCA and still sees upside, even after trimming its price target to $475 from $510. Benzinga report
• Neutral Sentiment: HCA issued second-quarter EPS guidance of $7.59, above consensus, but full-year guidance of $28.70 to $30.50 EPS and $77.0 billion to $79.5 billion in revenue was below the market’s profit expectations, signaling a more cautious outlook.
• Negative Sentiment: Management lowered its full-year profit outlook after reporting a higher share of uninsured patients and payer mix shifts tied to health insurance exchanges, which can pressure reimbursement rates and margins. WSJ article
• Negative Sentiment: Articles also noted declining surgeries, another sign that operating conditions may be less favorable than expected for the hospital operator. Barrons article

Hedge Funds Weigh In On HCA Healthcare

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HCA. Ballast Inc. acquired a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the second quarter valued at $296,000. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 21.7% during the 2nd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 81,008 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,584,000 after buying an additional 14,468 shares during the period. Tema ETFs LLC lifted its position in HCA Healthcare by 8.7% during the second quarter. Tema ETFs LLC now owns 3,622 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,412,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. grew its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 108.6% in the second quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 363 shares of the company’s stock valued at $142,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deane Retirement Strategies Inc. acquired a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $4,796,000. 62.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $80.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.12. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $396.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $459.73.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 24th. The company reported $7.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.19 by ($0.04). HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.89% and a negative return on equity of 295.93%. The business had revenue of $19.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.09 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $6.45 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. HCA Healthcare has set its FY 2026 guidance at 29.100-31.500 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 30.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 16th were paid a dividend of $0.78 per share. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 16th. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.73%.

About HCA Healthcare

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.