HCA Healthcare, Inc. (HCA) stock price, YTD gain – among top performers

Shares of hospital chain HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE: HCA) is among the top performers in the category lately. Although it was marginally down on Tuesday, by 0.56% to US$228.63 at 1:54 pm ET, the stock has been seeing robust traction in intraday trading.

On Monday, it was the top performer among its peers like Universal Health Services Inc. (UHS), Community Health Systems Inc (CYH), and Tenet Healthcare Corp. (THC) – falling 2.48%, 2.40%, and 1.60% compared with HCA’s 0.47% slid.

The HCA Healthcare, Inc. stock gained nearly 40% this year. The stock’s 52-week highest and the lowest stock prices were US$263.92 and US$148.92, respectively.

The Nashville, Tennessee-based company on Tuesday announced plans to build three new hospitals in Florida to help meet the state’s growing healthcare needs.

These facilities will be in Gainesville, The Villages, and Fort Myers, with 60 to 100-bed capacity, and their constructions will begin next year, the company said in a release.

The healthcare company currently runs 47 hospitals in Florida. However, its state care network includes over 400 affiliated facilities, known as HCA Florida Healthcare, which is growing rapidly.

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Forward Plans

HCA Healthcare CEO Sam Hazen said Florida’s rapidly growing population requires more care facilities and such, it was a conscious decision to build more centres in the state. “We are excited to expand our presence in the state and enhance our ability to care for patients,” Hazen added.

The company already has invested some US$3 billion in Florida over the past three years. It includes US$360 million in HCA Florida University Hospital that opened in November this year. The centre has state-of-the-art equipment for healthcare.

The Nashville-based HCA Healthcare has a market cap of 70.97 billion. Its P/E ratio is 11.63, and the forward P/E one year is 12.92. The earnings per share(EPS) and the annualized dividend are US$19.63 and US$1.92, respectively.

The company, founded in 1968, runs 183 hospitals and around 2,000 ambulatory care sites, equipped with facilities for surgery, ERs, etc., in 20 US states and the UK.

Bottomline

The healthcare sector grew rapidly, driven by the covid emergency. It saw massive investments in medical research and for bolstering the infrastructure over the past few months. Observers believe the sector would continue its growth momentum next year irrespective of the health crisis.