HCA Healthcare, Inc. (HCA) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.66 on June 28th

HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, April 26th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a dividend of 0.66 per share on Friday, June 28th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th.

HCA Healthcare has raised its dividend by an average of 50.8% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 4 years. HCA Healthcare has a dividend payout ratio of 11.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect HCA Healthcare to earn $22.91 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 11.5%.

HCA Healthcare Trading Down 2.4 %

Shares of NYSE:HCA opened at $306.69 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $81.11 billion, a PE ratio of 15.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.65. HCA Healthcare has a 1 year low of $215.96 and a 1 year high of $335.83. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $323.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $295.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 35.07.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $5.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.01 by $0.35. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 996.30%. The company had revenue of $17.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.81 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $4.93 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that HCA Healthcare will post 20.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HCA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of HCA Healthcare from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of HCA Healthcare from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $277.00 to $301.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $320.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $330.00 to $359.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $335.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, HCA Healthcare has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $310.88.

HCA Healthcare announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, January 30th that permits the company to buyback $6.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at HCA Healthcare

In other news, SVP Kathleen M. Whalen sold 4,262 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.21, for a total transaction of $1,305,067.02. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 10,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,138,652.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 344 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $321.97, for a total value of $110,757.68. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 2,452 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $789,470.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Kathleen M. Whalen sold 4,262 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.21, for a total transaction of $1,305,067.02. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,138,652.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 14,840 shares of company stock valued at $4,588,869. Corporate 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.