Critical Survey: HCA Healthcare (HCA) and Its Competitors

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) is one of 233 publicly-traded companies in the “Healthcare Providers & Services” industry, but how does it compare to its competitors? We will compare HCA Healthcare to similar businesses based on the strength of its dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations, risk, institutional ownership, valuation and earnings.

Dividends

HCA Healthcare pays an annual dividend of $3.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.6%. HCA Healthcare pays out 10.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Healthcare Providers & Services” companies pay a dividend yield of 1.4% and pay out 24.7% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. HCA Healthcare has increased its dividend for 6 consecutive years.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

62.7% of HCA Healthcare shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 56.7% of shares of all “Healthcare Providers & Services” companies are held by institutional investors. 1.5% of HCA Healthcare shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 15.0% of shares of all “Healthcare Providers & Services” companies are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares HCA Healthcare and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
HCA Healthcare	8.61%	-198.52%	10.81%
HCA Healthcare Competitors	-8.06%	-138.13%	-1.54%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for HCA Healthcare and its competitors, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
HCA Healthcare	1	7	16	0	2.62
HCA Healthcare Competitors	1866	7735	13361	822	2.55

HCA Healthcare presently has a consensus target price of $480.13, suggesting a potential downside of 4.79%. As a group, “Healthcare Providers & Services” companies have a potential upside of 14.07%. Given HCA Healthcare’s competitors higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe HCA Healthcare has less favorable growth aspects than its competitors.

Risk & Volatility

HCA Healthcare has a beta of 1.11, suggesting that its share price is 11% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, HCA Healthcare’s competitors have a beta of 0.98, suggesting that their average share price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares HCA Healthcare and its competitors top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
HCA Healthcare	$75.60 billion	$6.78 billion	16.71
HCA Healthcare Competitors	$21.44 billion	$301.67 million	7.14

HCA Healthcare has higher revenue and earnings than its competitors. HCA Healthcare is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Summary

HCA Healthcare beats its competitors on 10 of the 15 factors compared.

HCA Healthcare Company Profile

HCA Healthcare is a healthcare services company that operates hospitals and other care facilities. Its services include inpatient and outpatient care, emergency treatment, surgery, diagnostic services and specialized care across areas such as cancer and cardiovascular medicine. The company serves patients in the United States and the United Kingdom through its network of hospitals and outpatient facilities, including surgery centers, urgent care clinics and physician practices. Founded in 1968, HCA Healthcare is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee.