Encompass Health (NYSE:EHC) & Astrana Health (NASDAQ:ASTH) Head-To-Head Review

Encompass Health (NYSE:EHC) and Astrana Health (NASDAQ:ASTH) are both medical companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, institutional ownership, risk, valuation, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Encompass Health and Astrana Health”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Encompass Health	$5.94 billion	1.81	$566.20 million	$5.99	18.06
Astrana Health	$3.18 billion	0.68	$22.49 million	$0.61	63.95

Encompass Health has higher revenue and earnings than Astrana Health. Encompass Health is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Astrana Health, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Encompass Health and Astrana Health, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Encompass Health	0	1	6	2	3.11
Astrana Health	0	3	6	0	2.67

Encompass Health presently has a consensus target price of $144.17, indicating a potential upside of 33.30%. Astrana Health has a consensus target price of $41.86, indicating a potential upside of 7.30%. Given Encompass Health’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Encompass Health is more favorable than Astrana Health.

Profitability

This table compares Encompass Health and Astrana Health’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Encompass Health	10.04%	18.28%	8.27%
Astrana Health	0.86%	9.22%	3.54%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

97.3% of Encompass Health shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 52.8% of Astrana Health shares are held by institutional investors. 1.8% of Encompass Health shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 20.3% of Astrana Health shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk & Volatility

Encompass Health has a beta of 0.72, suggesting that its stock price is 28% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Astrana Health has a beta of 0.98, suggesting that its stock price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Encompass Health beats Astrana Health on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Encompass Health

Encompass Health Corporation provides post-acute healthcare services in the United States and Puerto Rico. It owns and operates inpatient rehabilitation hospitals that provide medical, nursing, therapy, and ancillary services. The company provides specialized rehabilitative treatment on an inpatient basis to patients who have experienced physical or cognitive disabilities or injuries due to medical conditions, such as strokes, hip fractures, and various debilitating neurological conditions. It offers services through the Medicare program to federal government, managed care plans and private insurers, state governments, and other patients. The company was formerly known as HealthSouth Corporation and changed its name to Encompass Health Corporation in January 2018. The company was incorporated in 1984 and is based in Birmingham, Alabama.

About Astrana Health

Astrana Health, Inc., Inc., a physician-centric technology-powered healthcare management company, provides medical care services in the United States. It operates through three segments: Care Partners, Care Delivery, and Care Enablement. The company is leveraging its proprietary population health management and healthcare delivery platform, operates an integrated, value-based healthcare model which empowers the providers in its network to deliver care to its patients. It offers care coordination services to patients, families, primary care physicians, specialists, acute care hospitals, alternative sites of inpatient care, physician groups, and health plans. The company's physician network consists of primary care physicians, specialist physicians and extenders, and hospitalists. It serves patients, primarily covered by private or public insurance, such as Medicare, Medicaid, and health maintenance organization plans; and non-insured patients. The company was formerly known as Apollo Medical Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to Astrana Health, Inc. in February 2024. Astrana Health, Inc. was incorporated in 1985 and is headquartered in Alhambra, California.