HCA Healthcare, Inc. (HCA) stock analysis

P/E above its 5-year median

HCA Healthcare's P/E of 16.8 is above its own 5-year median of 14.4.

P/E below the industry

HCA Healthcare's P/E of 16.8 is below the Health Services median of 23.9.

EV/EBITDA above its 5-year median

HCA Healthcare's EV/EBITDA of 10.0 is above its 5-year median of 9.0.

P/S above the industry

HCA Healthcare's price-to-sales of 1.34 is above the Health Services median of 1.05 (book value is negative, so we use sales).

Trading above fair value

The share price of $506.04 is above our fair value estimate of $495.17.

Margin of safety under 20%

The price is 2.2% above fair value, so there is no margin of safety.

Revenue growing under 10% a year

Revenue grew 7.9% a year over the last three fiscal years, short of the 10% we look for.

EPS growing 10%+ a year

Diluted EPS grew 13.9% a year over the last three fiscal years.

Earnings growth not accelerating

Net income grew 6.8% over the last twelve months, against a 5-year average of 12.6% a year.

Growing faster than the industry

Revenue grew 5.8% over the last twelve months; the Health Services median is 4.0%.

Guidance lowered

HCA Healthcare lowered its 2026 EPS (diluted) outlook on Jul 14, 2026.

Gross margin trend

This company does not report gross profit.

Return on equity

Needs positive equity and five years of results.

Return on invested capital

Needs operating income and invested capital.

Return on equity against the industry

Needs positive equity.

Earnings grew over 5 years

Net income grew 12.6% a year on average over the last five fiscal years.

Net margin below its 5-year average

Net margin was 8.6% over the last twelve months, against a 5-year average of 9.3%.

Net margin above the industry

HCA Healthcare's net margin of 8.6% is above the Health Services median of -2.6%.

Debt level

Needs debt and equity figures.

Debt trend

Needs a balance sheet from five years ago with positive equity.

Debt covered by cash flow

Operating cash flow over the last twelve months equals 22.1% of total debt.

Interest coverage

Interest expense is not reported separately.

Short-term assets don't cover short-term debts

Current assets are 0.82 times current liabilities.

Bankruptcy risk in the grey zone

The Altman Z-score is 1.93; above 3 is the safe zone and below 1.8 the distress zone.

Pays a dividend

HCA Healthcare paid dividends worth 0.6% of the share price over the last twelve months.

Yield below Treasuries

The 0.6% yield is below the 4.4% on a 1-year Treasury.

Yield below the top quarter

The top quarter of US dividend payers yield 3.8% or more; HCA Healthcare yields 0.6%.

Dividend was cut

The dividend per share fell by more than 10% at least once in the last 8 fiscal years.

Covered by earnings

Dividends take 10.1% of net income.

Covered by free cash flow

Dividends take 11.4% of free cash flow.