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How to buy HCA Healthcare shares
Own HCA Healthcare shares in just a few minutes. Share price changes are updated daily.
Fact checked
HCA Healthcare, Inc (HCA) is a leading medical care facilities business based in the US. HCA Healthcare is listed on the NYSE and employs 210,000 staff. All prices are listed in US Dollars.
How to buy shares in HCA Healthcare
- Choose a platform. If you're a beginner, our share-dealing table below can help you choose.
- Open your account. You'll need your ID, bank details and national insurance number.
- Confirm your payment details. You'll need to fund your account with a bank transfer, debit card or credit card.
- Search the platform for stock code: HCA in this case.
- Research HCA Healthcare shares. The platform should provide the latest information available.
- Buy your HCA Healthcare shares. It's that simple.
What's in this guide?
- Can I buy shares in HCA Healthcare?
- HCA Healthcare shares summary
- Compare share dealing platforms
- Is HCA Healthcare stock a buy or sell?
- Can I short HCA Healthcare shares?
- Is HCA Healthcare suitable for ethical investing?
- Are HCA Healthcare shares over-valued?
- HCA Healthcare's financials
- How volatile are HCA Healthcare shares?
- Does HCA Healthcare pay a dividend?
- Other common questions
HCA Healthcare share price
Use our graph to track the performance of HCA stocks over time.HCA Healthcare shares at a glance
Information last updated 2021-01-24.
| 52-week range | $58.2514 - $174.55 |
|---|---|
| 50-day moving average | $164.84 |
| 200-day moving average | $139.1999 |
| Wall St. target price | $182.76 |
| PE ratio | 16.8827 |
| Dividend yield | $1.72 (1.56%) |
| Earnings per share (TTM) | $9.89 |
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All investing should be regarded as longer term. The value of your investments can go up and down, and you may get back less than you invest. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. If you’re not sure which investments are right for you, please seek out a financial adviser. Capital at risk.
Is it a good time to buy HCA Healthcare 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.
Is HCA Healthcare under- or over-valued?
Valuing HCA Healthcare stock is incredibly difficult, and any metric has to be viewed as part of a bigger picture of HCA Healthcare's overall performance. However, analysts commonly use some key metrics to help gauge the value of a stock.
HCA Healthcare's P/E ratio
HCA Healthcare's current share price divided by its per-share earnings (EPS) over a 12-month period gives a "trailing price/earnings ratio" of roughly 17x. In other words, HCA Healthcare shares trade at around 17x recent earnings.
That's relatively low compared to, say, the trailing 12-month P/E ratio for the NASDAQ 100 at the end of 2019 (27.29). The low P/E ratio could mean that investors are pessimistic about the outlook for the shares or simply that they're under-valued.
HCA Healthcare's PEG ratio
HCA Healthcare's "price/earnings-to-growth ratio" can be calculated by dividing its P/E ratio by its growth – to give 1.3648. A low ratio can be interpreted as meaning the shares offer better value, while a higher ratio can be interpreted as meaning the shares offer worse value.
The PEG ratio provides a broader view than just the P/E ratio, as it gives more insight into HCA Healthcare's future profitability. By accounting for growth, it could also help you if you're comparing the share prices of multiple high-growth companies.
HCA Healthcare's EBITDA
HCA Healthcare's EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) is a whopping $9.6 billion.
The EBITDA is a measure of a HCA Healthcare's overall financial performance and is widely used to measure a its profitability.
HCA Healthcare financials
| Revenue TTM | $50.8 billion |
|---|---|
| Operating margin TTM | 13.47% |
| Gross profit TTM | $19.3 billion |
| Return on assets TTM | 9% |
| Return on equity TTM | 0% |
| Profit margin | 6.7% |
| Market capitalisation | $56.5 billion |
TTM: trailing 12 months
How to short and sell HCA Healthcare shares
- Create a CFD or spread betting account.
- Search for the stock code. E.g. "HCA.US"
- Choose your position size.
- Select "sell" rather than "buy".
- Confirm your position and keep tabs on it. You may wish to set limits on your position.
There are currently 3.8 million HCA Healthcare shares held short by investors – that's known as HCA Healthcare's "short interest". This figure is 8.5% down from 4.1 million last month.
There are a few different ways that this level of interest in shorting HCA Healthcare shares can be evaluated.
HCA Healthcare's "short interest ratio" (SIR)
HCA Healthcare's "short interest ratio" (SIR) is the quantity of HCA Healthcare shares currently shorted divided by the average quantity of HCA Healthcare shares traded daily (recently around 1.3 million). HCA Healthcare's SIR currently stands at 2.81. In other words for every 100,000 HCA Healthcare shares traded daily on the market, roughly 2810 shares are currently held short.
However HCA Healthcare's short interest can also be evaluated against the total number of HCA Healthcare shares, or, against the total number of tradable HCA Healthcare shares (the shares that aren't held by "insiders" or major long-term shareholders – also known as the "float"). In this case HCA Healthcare's short interest could be expressed as 0.01% of the outstanding shares (for every 100,000 HCA Healthcare shares in existence, roughly 10 shares are currently held short) or 0.0142% of the tradable shares (for every 100,000 tradable HCA Healthcare shares, roughly 14 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 HCA Healthcare.
Find out more about how you can short HCA Healthcare stock.
HCA Healthcare's environmental, social and governance track record
Environmental, social and governance (known as ESG) criteria are a set of three factors used to measure the sustainability and social impact of companies like HCA Healthcare.
When it comes to ESG scores, lower is better, and lower scores are generally associated with lower risk for would-be investors.
HCA Healthcare's total ESG risk score
Total ESG risk: 30.6
Socially conscious investors use ESG scores to screen how an investment aligns with their worldview, and HCA Healthcare's overall score of 30.6 (as at 01/01/2019) is nothing to write home about – landing it in it in the 49th percentile of companies rated in the same sector.
ESG scores are increasingly used to estimate the level of risk a company like HCA Healthcare is exposed to within the areas of "environmental" (carbon footprint, resource use etc.), "social" (health and safety, human rights etc.), and "governance" (anti-corruption, tax transparency etc.).
HCA Healthcare's environmental score
Environmental score: 5.79/100
HCA Healthcare's environmental score of 5.79 puts it squarely in the 7th percentile of companies rated in the same sector. This could suggest that HCA Healthcare is a leader in its sector terms of its environmental impact, and exposed to a lower level of risk.
HCA Healthcare's social score
Social score: 19.86/100
HCA Healthcare's social score of 19.86 puts it squarely in the 7th percentile of companies rated in the same sector. This could suggest that HCA Healthcare is a leader in its sector when it comes to taking good care of its workforce and the communities it impacts.
HCA Healthcare's governance score
Governance score: 12.44/100
HCA Healthcare's governance score puts it squarely in the 7th percentile of companies rated in the same sector. That could suggest that HCA Healthcare is a leader in its sector when it comes to responsible management and strategy, and exposed to a lower level of risk.
HCA Healthcare's controversy score
Controversy score: 2/5
ESG scores also evaluate any incidences of controversy that a company has been involved in. A high-profile company, HCA Healthcare scored a 2 out of 5 for controversy – the second-highest score possible, reflecting that HCA Healthcare has, for the most part, managed to keep its nose clean.
Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) summary
HCA Healthcare, Inc was last rated for ESG on: 2019-01-01.
| Total ESG score | 30.6 |
|---|---|
| Total ESG percentile | 48.54 |
| Environmental score | 5.79 |
| Environmental score percentile | 7 |
| Social score | 19.86 |
| Social score percentile | 7 |
| Governance score | 12.44 |
| Governance score percentile | 7 |
| Level of controversy | 2 |
HCA Healthcare share dividends
Dividend payout ratio: 8.7% of net profits
Recently HCA Healthcare has paid out, on average, around 8.7% of net profits as dividends. That has enabled analysts to estimate a "forward annual dividend yield" of 1.56% of the current stock value. This means that over a year, based on recent payouts (which are sadly no guarantee of future payouts), HCA Healthcare shareholders could enjoy a 1.56% return on their shares, in the form of dividend payments. In HCA Healthcare's case, that would currently equate to about $1.72 per share.
While HCA Healthcare's payout ratio might seem low, this can signify that HCA Healthcare is investing more in its future growth.
HCA Healthcare's most recent dividend payout was on 13 January 2021. The latest dividend was paid out to all shareholders who bought their shares by 28 February 2020 (the "ex-dividend date").
HCA Healthcare share price volatility
Over the last 12 months, HCA Healthcare's shares have ranged in value from as little as $58.2514 up to $174.55. 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 average) beta is 1, while HCA Healthcare's is 1.5935. This would suggest that HCA Healthcare's shares are more volatile than the average for this exchange and represent, relatively-speaking, a higher risk (but potentially also market-beating returns).
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HCA Healthcare overview
HCA Healthcare, Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates as a health care services company in the United States. The company operates general, acute care hospitals that offer 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 services. It also operates psychiatric hospitals, which provide therapeutic programs comprising child, adolescent and adult psychiatric care, and adolescent and adult alcohol and drug abuse treatment and counseling. In addition, the company operates outpatient health care facilities consisting of freestanding ambulatory surgery centers, freestanding emergency care facilities, urgent care facilities, walk-in clinics, diagnostic and imaging centers, rehabilitation and physical therapy centers, radiation and oncology therapy centers, physician practices, and various other facilities. As of December 31, 2019, it operated 184 hospitals and 123 freestanding surgery centers located in 21 states and England. HCA Healthcare Inc. has collaboration with Truli to give small and medium-size employers a new option for funding health care coverage in Florida markets. The company was formerly known as HCA Holdings, Inc. HCA Healthcare, Inc. was founded in 1968 and is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee.
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