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HCA Healthcare (HCA) Increases Despite Market Slip: Here's What You Need to Know

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HCA Healthcare (HCA - Free Report) closed at $237.42 in the latest trading session, marking a +1.04% move from the prior day. The stock's performance was ahead of the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.5%. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 0.12%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 1.23%.

The hospital operator's stock has dropped by 10.85% in the past month, falling short of the Medical sector's loss of 4.84% and the S&P 500's loss of 2.4%.

The investment community will be closely monitoring the performance of HCA Healthcare in its forthcoming earnings report. The company is scheduled to release its earnings on October 24, 2023. In that report, analysts expect HCA Healthcare to post earnings of $3.99 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 1.53%. Simultaneously, our latest consensus estimate expects the revenue to be $15.78 billion, showing a 5.41% escalation compared to the year-ago quarter.

For the annual period, the Zacks Consensus Estimates anticipate earnings of $18.48 per share and a revenue of $63.86 billion, signifying shifts of +9.41% and +6.02%, respectively, from the last year.

Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for HCA Healthcare. These latest adjustments often mirror the shifting dynamics of short-term business patterns. Therefore, positive revisions in estimates convey analysts' confidence in the company's business performance and profit potential.

Our research suggests that these changes in estimates have a direct relationship with upcoming stock price performance. To exploit this, we've formed the Zacks Rank, a quantitative model that includes these estimate changes and presents a viable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, which varies between #1 (Strong Buy) and #5 (Strong Sell), carries an impressive track record of exceeding expectations, confirmed by external audits, with stocks at #1 delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.06% higher within the past month. HCA Healthcare is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Valuation is also important, so investors should note that HCA Healthcare has a Forward P/E ratio of 12.71 right now. This expresses a premium compared to the average Forward P/E of 12.4 of its industry.

It is also worth noting that HCA currently has a PEG ratio of 1.23. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. The Medical - Hospital industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 1.35 as of yesterday's close.

The Medical - Hospital industry is part of the Medical sector. At present, this industry carries a Zacks Industry Rank of 38, placing it within the top 16% of over 250 industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank is ordered from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

To follow HCA in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.


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