How to buy National HealthCare Corporation stock | $68.18

National HealthCare Corporation is a medical care facilities business based in the US. National HealthCare Corporation shares (NHC) are listed on the NYSE MKT and all prices are listed in US Dollars. National HealthCare Corporation employs 14,881 staff and has a trailing 12-month revenue of around USD$985.5 million.

How to buy shares in National HealthCare Corporation

1. Compare share trading platforms. If you're a beginner, look for a platform with low commissions, expert ratings and investment tools to track your portfolio. Narrow down top brands with our comparison table.
2. Open and fund your brokerage account. Complete an application with your personal and financial details, like your ID and bank information. Fund your account with a bank transfer, credit card or debit card.
3. Search for National HealthCare Corporation. Find the stock by name or ticker symbol: NHC. Research its history to confirm it's a solid investment against your financial goals.
4. Purchase now or later. Buy today with a market order or use a limit order to delay your purchase until National HealthCare Corporation reaches your desired price. To spread out your purchase, look into dollar-cost averaging, which smooths out buying at consistent intervals and amounts.
5. Decide on how many to buy. At last close price of USD$68.18, weigh your budget against a diversified portfolio that can minimize risk through the market's ups and downs. You may be able to buy a fractional share of National HealthCare Corporation, depending on your broker.
6. Check in on your investment. Congratulations, you own a part of National HealthCare Corporation. Optimize your portfolio by tracking how your stock — and even the business — performs with an eye on the long term. You may be eligible for dividends and shareholder voting rights on directors and management that can affect your stock.

National HealthCare Corporation share price

Use our graph to track the performance of NHC stocks over time.

National HealthCare Corporation shares at a glance

• Key figures

Information last updated 2020-12-02.

Latest market close	USD$68.18
52-week range	USD$54.9356 - USD$86.4338
50-day moving average	USD$65.6629
200-day moving average	USD$63.8213
Wall St. target price	USD$6.15
PE ratio	33.9923
Dividend yield	USD$2.08 (3.34%)
Earnings per share (TTM)	USD$1.821

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Is it a good time to buy National HealthCare Corporation stock?

The technical analysis gauge below displays real-time ratings for the timeframes you select. This is not a recommendation, however. It represents a technical analysis based on the most popular technical indicators: Moving Averages, Oscillators and Pivots. Finder might not concur and takes no responsibility.

Technical Analysis of National HealthCare Corporation by TradingView

This chart is not advice or a guarantee of success. Rather, it gauges the real-time recommendations of three popular technical indicators: moving averages, oscillators and pivots. Finder is not responsible for how your stock performs.

National HealthCare Corporation price performance over time

Historical closes compared with the close of $68.18 from 2020-12-09

1 week (2021-01-09)	N/A
1 month (2020-12-18)	0.24%
3 months (2020-10-16)	7.23%
6 months (2020-07-17)	7.27%

1 year (2020-01-17)	-21.72%
2 years (2019-01-18)	-9.44%
3 years (2018-01-18)	8.60%
5 years (2016-01-16)	N/A

Is National HealthCare Corporation under- or over-valued?

Valuing National HealthCare Corporation stock is incredibly difficult, and any metric has to be viewed as part of a bigger picture of National HealthCare Corporation's overall performance. However, analysts commonly use some key metrics to help gauge the value of a stock.

National HealthCare Corporation's P/E ratio

National HealthCare Corporation's current share price divided by its per-share earnings (EPS) over a 12-month period gives a "trailing price/earnings ratio" of roughly 34x. In other words, National HealthCare Corporation shares trade at around 34x recent earnings.

National HealthCare Corporation's EBITDA

National HealthCare Corporation's EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) is USD$83.4 million.

The EBITDA is a measure of a National HealthCare Corporation's overall financial performance and is widely used to measure a its profitability.

National HealthCare Corporation financials

Revenue TTM	USD$985.5 million
Operating margin TTM	4.16%
Gross profit TTM	USD$403.6 million
Return on assets TTM	1.94%
Return on equity TTM	3.65%
Profit margin	2.85%
Book value	$50.39
Market capitalisation	USD$950.8 million

TTM: trailing 12 months

Shorting National HealthCare Corporation shares

There are currently 93,994 National HealthCare Corporation shares held short by investors – that's known as National HealthCare Corporation's "short interest". This figure is 14.2% down from 109,589 last month.

There are a few different ways that this level of interest in shorting National HealthCare Corporation shares can be evaluated.

National HealthCare Corporation's "short interest ratio" (SIR)

National HealthCare Corporation's "short interest ratio" (SIR) is the quantity of National HealthCare Corporation shares currently shorted divided by the average quantity of National HealthCare Corporation shares traded daily (recently around 26627.195467422). National HealthCare Corporation's SIR currently stands at 3.53. In other words for every 100,000 National HealthCare Corporation shares traded daily on the market, roughly 3530 shares are currently held short.

However National HealthCare Corporation's short interest can also be evaluated against the total number of National HealthCare Corporation shares, or, against the total number of tradable National HealthCare Corporation shares (the shares that aren't held by "insiders" or major long-term shareholders – also known as the "float"). In this case National HealthCare Corporation's short interest could be expressed as 0.01% of the outstanding shares (for every 100,000 National HealthCare Corporation shares in existence, roughly 10 shares are currently held short) or 0.0076% of the tradable shares (for every 100,000 tradable National HealthCare Corporation shares, roughly 8 shares are currently held short).

Such a low SIR usually points to an optimistic outlook for the share price, with fewer people currently willing to bet against National HealthCare Corporation.

Find out more about how you can short National HealthCare Corporation stock.

National HealthCare Corporation share dividends

Dividend payout ratio: 114.44% of net profits

Recently National HealthCare Corporation has paid out, on average, around 114.44% of net profits as dividends. That has enabled analysts to estimate a "forward annual dividend yield" of 3.34% of the current stock value. This means that over a year, based on recent payouts (which are sadly no guarantee of future payouts), National HealthCare Corporation shareholders could enjoy a 3.34% return on their shares, in the form of dividend payments. In National HealthCare Corporation's case, that would currently equate to about $2.08 per share.

National HealthCare Corporation's payout ratio would broadly be considered high, and as such this stock could appeal to those looking to generate an income. Bear in mind however that companies should normally also look to re-invest a decent amount of net profits to ensure future growth.

National HealthCare Corporation's most recent dividend payout was on 1 February 2021. The latest dividend was paid out to all shareholders who bought their shares by 30 December 2020 (the "ex-dividend date").

National HealthCare Corporation share price volatility

Over the last 12 months, National HealthCare Corporation's shares have ranged in value from as little as $54.9356 up to $86.4338. A popular way to gauge a stock's volatility is its "beta".

Beta is a measure of a share's volatility in relation to the market. The market (NYSE MKT average) beta is 1, while National HealthCare Corporation's is 0.2542. This would suggest that National HealthCare Corporation's shares are less volatile than average (for this exchange).

National HealthCare Corporation overview

National HealthCare Corporation operates, manages, and provides services to skilled nursing facilities, assisted living facilities, independent living facilities, and home health care programs. Its skilled nursing facilities offer licensed therapy services, nutrition services, social services, activities, and housekeeping and laundry services, as well as medical services prescribed by physicians; and rehabilitative services, such as physical, speech, respiratory, and occupational therapy for patients recovering from strokes, heart attacks, orthopedic conditions, neurological illnesses, or other illnesses, injuries, or disabilities. The company's medical specialty units comprise memory care units and subacute nursing units that provide specialized care and programs for persons with Alzheimer's or related disorders; and assisted living centers offer personal care services and assistance with general activities of daily living, such as dressing, bathing, meal preparation, and medication management. It also owns, leases, and manages independent living facilities that provide specially designed residential units for the active and ambulatory elderly, as well as offers various ancillary services for its residents, including restaurants, activity rooms, and social areas. In addition, it provides health care programs that offer skilled services, such as infusion, wound care and physical, occupational, and speech therapies; operates pharmacies; offers management, accounting, financial, and insurance services; and leases its properties to third party operators. As of December 31, 2019, the company operated 75 skilled nursing facilities with 9,513 licensed beds; 25 assisted living facilities; 5 independent living facilities; 35 homecare programs; and 4 pharmacy locations. National HealthCare Corporation was founded in 1971 and is based in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

Frequently asked questions

• What percentage of National HealthCare Corporation is owned by insiders or institutions?

  Currently 20.094% of National HealthCare Corporation shares are held by insiders and 46.807% by institutions.

• How many people work for National HealthCare Corporation?

  Latest data suggests 14,881 work at National HealthCare Corporation.

• When does the fiscal year end for National HealthCare Corporation?

  National HealthCare Corporation's fiscal year ends in December.

• Where is National HealthCare Corporation based?

  National HealthCare Corporation's address is: 100 East Vine Street, Murfreesboro, TN, United States, 37130

• What is National HealthCare Corporation's ISIN number?

  National HealthCare Corporation's international securities identification number is: US6359061008

• What is National HealthCare Corporation's CUSIP number?

  National HealthCare Corporation's Committee on Uniform Securities Identification Procedures number is: 635906100