HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) & BrightSpring Health Services (NASDAQ:BTSG) Financial Review

BrightSpring Health Services (NASDAQ:BTSG) and HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) are both large-cap healthcare companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations, risk, profitability and earnings.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

62.7% of HCA Healthcare shares are held by institutional investors. 2.8% of BrightSpring Health Services shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.5% of HCA Healthcare shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for BrightSpring Health Services and HCA Healthcare, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
BrightSpring Health Services	0	0	17	2	3.11
HCA Healthcare	1	7	16	0	2.62

BrightSpring Health Services presently has a consensus target price of $77.81, suggesting a potential upside of 7.34%. HCA Healthcare has a consensus target price of $480.13, suggesting a potential downside of 4.79%. Given BrightSpring Health Services’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe BrightSpring Health Services is more favorable than HCA Healthcare.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares BrightSpring Health Services and HCA Healthcare”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
BrightSpring Health Services	$12.91 billion	1.12	$190.67 million	$1.85	39.18
HCA Healthcare	$75.60 billion	1.39	$6.78 billion	$30.18	16.71

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

Profitability

This table compares BrightSpring Health Services and HCA Healthcare’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
BrightSpring Health Services	2.69%	18.56%	6.03%
HCA Healthcare	8.61%	-198.52%	10.81%

Volatility & Risk

BrightSpring Health Services has a beta of 1.77, indicating that its stock price is 77% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, HCA Healthcare has a beta of 1.11, indicating that its stock price is 11% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

BrightSpring Health Services beats HCA Healthcare on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About BrightSpring Health Services

BrightSpring Health Services is a provider of home- and community-based health services in the United States. The company supports people with complex health needs, including individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, behavioral health conditions, and chronic or age-related illnesses. Its services include home health and hospice care, behavioral health and rehabilitation, residential and community-based support, and pharmacy services. BrightSpring’s pharmacy operations provide prescription dispensing and related services to people receiving care in homes, community settings, and long-term care facilities.

About HCA Healthcare

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.