Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Community Health's Arm Northwest Urgent Buys 10 Arizona Facilities

Read MoreHide Full Article

Community Health Systems, Inc. (CYH - Free Report) recently announced that its subsidiary, Northwest Urgent Care, LLC, has agreed to buy 10 urgent care centers in Arizona from Carbon Health. The move is expected to boost the company’s capacity and footprint in the region.  

The transaction is scheduled to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2024. Northwest Urgent is part of Northwest Healthcare, which serves Tucson and its surrounding communities in Arizona. The acquisition is expected to expand Northwest Healthcare’s network to more than 80 sites.

Northwest Healthcare has committed around $200 million to strategic growth and capital development across the Greater Tucson Metro area in the last five years. This investment includes two new hospitals: Northwest Medical Center Sahuarita and Northwest Medical Center Houghton. These projects reflect the company’s efforts to expand and modernize its healthcare offerings in the region. With improving economic conditions, an increase in mergers and acquisitions within the medical and hospital sectors is expected in the coming days.

Over the years, acquisitions and partnerships have been key drivers of Community Health’s growth. The company targets hospitals where it can add value by expanding specialty medical services, achieving economies of scale, investing in new technology and enhancing process management. CYH is expanding capacity by adding beds to its existing facilities to meet the growing demand for healthcare services.

The company operates in 39 distinct markets across 15 states. In the first quarter of 2024, it opened two new ambulatory surgery centers in Tucson, AZ, and Cedar Park, TX. These expansionary moves are expected to boost CYH’s admission volumes, supporting overall growth.

CYH Stock Price Performance

Community Health’s shares have surged 84.6% in the past year compared with the 56.5% rise of the industry it belongs to.

Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

CYH’s Zacks Rank & Key Picks

Community Health currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Investors can look at some better-ranked stocks in the broader Medical space, like Universal Health Services, Inc. (UHS - Free Report) , Tenet Healthcare Corporation (THC - Free Report) and CareDx, Inc. (CDNA - Free Report) . While Universal Health and Tenet Healthcare each currently sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), CareDx carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Universal Health Services’ 2024 bottom line suggests 51% year-over-year growth. UHS witnessed seven upward estimate revisions over the past 60 days against no movement in the opposite direction. It beat earnings estimates in each of the last four quarters, with the average surprise being 14.6%.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Tenet Healthcare’s 2024 bottom line is pegged at $10.72 per share, which indicates 53.6% growth from a year ago. During the past 60 days, THC witnessed seven upward estimate revisions against none in the opposite direction. It beat earnings estimates in each of the last four quarters, with the average surprise being 58.5%.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CareDx’s current-year earnings implies a 140.6% improvement from the year-ago reported figure. CDNA beat earnings estimates in each of the last four quarters, with an average surprise of 114.6%. The consensus mark for its current-year revenues is pegged at $324.5 million, which indicates a 15.7% year-over-year increase.

Published in