At US$276, Is HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Worth Looking At Closely?

Let's talk about the popular HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA). The company's shares led the NYSE gainers with a relatively large price hike in the past couple of weeks. The recent rally in share prices has nudged the company in the right direction, though it still falls short of its yearly peak. With many analysts covering the large-cap stock, we may expect any price-sensitive announcements have already been factored into the stock’s share price. But what if there is still an opportunity to buy? Let’s examine HCA Healthcare’s valuation and outlook in more detail to determine if there’s still a bargain opportunity.

See our latest analysis for HCA Healthcare

What Is HCA Healthcare Worth?

Great news for investors – HCA Healthcare is still trading at a fairly cheap price according to our price multiple model, where we compare the company's price-to-earnings ratio to the industry average. In this instance, we’ve used the price-to-earnings (PE) ratio given that there is not enough information to reliably forecast the stock’s cash flows. we find that HCA Healthcare’s ratio of 12.92x is below its peer average of 23.9x, which indicates the stock is trading at a lower price compared to the Healthcare industry. What’s more interesting is that, HCA Healthcare’s share price is quite volatile, which gives us more chances to buy since the share price could sink lower (or rise higher) in the future. This is based on its high beta, which is a good indicator for how much the stock moves relative to the rest of the market.

What does the future of HCA Healthcare look like?

Investors looking for growth in their portfolio may want to consider the prospects of a company before buying its shares. Although value investors would argue that it’s the intrinsic value relative to the price that matter the most, a more compelling investment thesis would be high growth potential at a cheap price. Though in the case of HCA Healthcare, it is expected to deliver a relatively unexciting earnings growth of 3.4%, which doesn’t help build up its investment thesis. Growth doesn’t appear to be a main reason for a buy decision for the company, at least in the near term.

What This Means For You

Are you a shareholder? Even though growth is relatively muted, since HCA is currently trading below the industry PE ratio, it may be a great time to increase your holdings in the stock. However, there are also other factors such as financial health to consider, which could explain the current price multiple.

Are you a potential investor? If you’ve been keeping an eye on HCA for a while, now might be the time to make a leap. Its future profit outlook isn’t fully reflected in the current share price yet, which means it’s not too late to buy HCA. But before you make any investment decisions, consider other factors such as the track record of its management team, in order to make a well-informed investment decision.

In light of this, if you'd like to do more analysis on the company, it's vital to be informed of the risks involved. You'd be interested to know, that we found 1 warning sign for HCA Healthcare and you'll want to know about it.

If you are no longer interested in HCA Healthcare, you can use our free platform to see our list of over 50 other stocks with a high growth potential.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.