National HealthCare Corp (NHC) stock analysis

P/E above its 5-year median

National HealthCare's P/E of 29.1 is above its own 5-year median of 21.5.

P/E above the industry

National HealthCare's P/E of 29.1 is above the Health Services median of 23.9.

EV/EBITDA above its 5-year median

National HealthCare's EV/EBITDA of 18.3 is above its 5-year median of 12.4.

P/B below the industry

National HealthCare's price-to-book of 2.93 is below the Health Services median of 3.42.

Trading above fair value

The share price of $210.78 is above our fair value estimate of $150.59.

Margin of safety under 20%

The price is 40.0% above fair value, so there is no margin of safety.

Revenue growing 10%+ a year

Revenue grew 11.8% a year over the last three fiscal years.

EPS growing 10%+ a year

Diluted EPS grew 74.2% a year over the last three fiscal years.

Earnings growth not accelerating

Net income grew 13.2% over the last twelve months, against a 5-year average of 23.4% a year.

Growing slower than the industry

Revenue grew 5.6% over the last twelve months; the Health Services median is 9.5%.

Company guidance

No outlook found in earnings releases from the last twelve months.

Gross margin trend

This company does not report gross profit.

Return on equity under 15%

Return on equity was 10.5% over the last twelve months and averaged 9.8% over five years; we look for 15% on both.

Return on capital under 10%

Return on invested capital was 9.3%, below the 10% that usually covers the cost of capital.

Return on equity above the industry

National HealthCare's return on equity of 10.5% is above the Health Services median of 4.7%.

Earnings grew over 5 years

Net income grew 23.4% a year on average over the last five fiscal years.

Net margin below its 5-year average

Net margin was 7.2% over the last twelve months, against a 5-year average of 7.3%.

Net margin above the industry

National HealthCare's net margin of 7.2% is above the Health Services median of -2.6%.

High debt

Debt is 44.6% of shareholders' equity, above the 40% we consider low.

Debt rising against equity

Debt to equity rose from 0.0% five years ago to 44.6%.

Debt covered by cash flow

Operating cash flow over the last twelve months equals 44.2% of total debt.

Interest well covered

Operating income covers interest expense 19.2 times.

Short-term assets cover short-term debts

Current assets are 1.48 times current liabilities.

Low bankruptcy risk

The Altman Z-score is 3.81; above 3 is the safe zone and below 1.8 the distress zone.

Pays a dividend

National HealthCare paid dividends worth 1.2% of the share price over the last twelve months.

Yield below Treasuries

The 1.2% yield is below the 4.6% on a 1-year Treasury.

Yield below the top quarter

The top quarter of US dividend payers yield 3.9% or more; National HealthCare yields 1.2%.

Dividend not cut

The dividend per share has not fallen by more than 10% in any of the last 10 fiscal years.

Covered by earnings

Dividends take 35.2% of net income.

Cash-flow cover

Needs dividends paid and free cash flow.