HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Plans Dividend Increase – $0.72 Per Share

HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, January 27th,Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of 0.72 per share on Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This is a positive change from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66.

HCA Healthcare has increased its dividend by an average of 11.2% per year over the last three years. HCA Healthcare has a dividend payout ratio of 9.7% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect HCA Healthcare to earn $24.77 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.64 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 10.7%.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:HCA opened at $332.18 on Tuesday. HCA Healthcare has a twelve month low of $281.61 and a twelve month high of $417.14. The business has a fifty day moving average of $313.49 and a 200-day moving average of $353.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 48.71, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.12. The firm has a market cap of $84.14 billion, a PE ratio of 14.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.64.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.03 by $0.19. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.52% and a return on equity of 520.98%. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.90 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that HCA Healthcare will post 21.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on HCA. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of HCA Healthcare from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $400.00 to $320.00 in a report on Monday, November 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $405.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Monday. KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $420.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $430.00 to $390.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $382.19.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other HCA Healthcare news, insider Erol R. Akdamar sold 2,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $353.00, for a total value of $1,023,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 6,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,415,579. The trade was a 29.76 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Phillip G. Billington sold 3,897 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total value of $1,363,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 52,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,445,700. This trade represents a 6.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

HCA Healthcare Company Profile

HCA Healthcare, Inc, through its subsidiaries, owns and operates hospitals and related healthcare entities in the United States. It operates general and acute care hospitals that offers medical and surgical services, including inpatient care, intensive care, cardiac care, diagnostic, and emergency services; and outpatient services, such as outpatient surgery, laboratory, radiology, respiratory therapy, cardiology, and physical therapy.