AdaptHealth (NASDAQ:AHCO) vs. Universal Health Services (NYSE:UHS) Financial Review

Universal Health Services (NYSE:UHS) and AdaptHealth (NASDAQ:AHCO) are both healthcare companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, risk, valuation, profitability, institutional ownership and dividends.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

86.1% of Universal Health Services shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 82.7% of AdaptHealth shares are held by institutional investors. 17.1% of Universal Health Services shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.9% of AdaptHealth shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Universal Health Services and AdaptHealth, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Universal Health Services	1	11	6	0	2.28
AdaptHealth	1	1	7	0	2.67

Universal Health Services currently has a consensus price target of $202.60, indicating a potential upside of 3.09%. AdaptHealth has a consensus price target of $9.43, indicating a potential upside of 20.88%. Given AdaptHealth’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe AdaptHealth is more favorable than Universal Health Services.

Profitability

This table compares Universal Health Services and AdaptHealth’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Universal Health Services	7.96%	18.39%	8.61%
AdaptHealth	-12.90%	-0.27%	-0.09%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Universal Health Services and AdaptHealth”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Universal Health Services	$18.35 billion	0.63	$1.49 billion	$23.91	8.22
AdaptHealth	$3.24 billion	0.33	-$70.79 million	($3.00)	-2.60

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

Volatility and Risk

Universal Health Services has a beta of 1.11, suggesting that its stock price is 11% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, AdaptHealth has a beta of 1.36, suggesting that its stock price is 36% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Universal Health Services beats AdaptHealth on 9 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Universal Health Services

Universal Health Services, Inc. (NYSE: UHS) is a healthcare company that owns and operates hospitals and other healthcare facilities. Its services span acute care, behavioral healthcare and outpatient treatment. The company’s facilities provide services such as inpatient and outpatient medical care, emergency services, psychiatric treatment, substance-use-disorder care and rehabilitation. UHS serves communities across the United States and also has operations in the United Kingdom and Puerto Rico.

About AdaptHealth

AdaptHealth provides home medical equipment, supplies and related services to patients managing chronic conditions and recovering from illness or injury. Its offerings include oxygen and other respiratory equipment, sleep-therapy devices such as CPAP machines, and diabetes supplies, including continuous glucose monitoring products. The company also provides equipment and support for other care needs at home, working with patients, clinicians, hospitals and health plans to help coordinate access to prescribed products and services.