Ardent Health (NYSE:ARDT) Shares Gap Up Following Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Shares of Ardent Health, Inc. (NYSE:ARDT) gapped up before the market opened on Thursday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock had previously closed at $12.99, but opened at $14.65. Ardent Health shares last traded at $15.64, with a volume of 145,126 shares trading hands.

The company reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.08. Ardent Health had a net margin of 1.22% and a return on equity of 10.35%. The firm had revenue of $1.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.60 billion.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on ARDT. Leerink Partners restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $14.00 price objective on shares of Ardent Health in a research report on Friday, September 18th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Ardent Health from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Zacks Research upgraded Ardent Health from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 7th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on Ardent Health in a research note on Tuesday, September 22nd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $11.00 target price for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Ardent Health from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $12.79.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in shares of Ardent Health by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 29,812 shares of the company’s stock worth $255,000 after buying an additional 1,072 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in shares of Ardent Health by 131.3% during the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,863 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 1,625 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new position in Ardent Health in the second quarter valued at approximately $57,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Ardent Health in the third quarter valued at approximately $61,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Ardent Health by 4.2% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 241,052 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,063,000 after buying an additional 9,743 shares during the period.

Ardent Health Trading Up 18.3%

The stock has a market capitalization of $2.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.93, a PEG ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 2.10 and a quick ratio of 1.99. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $11.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $10.02.

Ardent Health Company Profile

Ardent Health is a U.S. healthcare services company that operates hospitals, outpatient facilities and physician practices. Its services include emergency and acute care, surgery, cardiology, orthopedics, oncology, women’s health, behavioral health, rehabilitation, imaging and other specialty and primary care offerings.

The company serves patients through regional health networks and hospital campuses primarily in Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico and other U.S. markets. In addition to hospital-based care, Ardent operates outpatient clinics, urgent care locations and other facilities designed to provide services across different stages of the patient-care process.

Ardent Health was founded in 2001 and became a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange in 2024.