Is Now The Time To Look At Buying HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)?

Today we're going to take a look at the well-established HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA). The company's stock saw a double-digit share price rise of over 10% in the past couple of months on the NYSE. 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. However, could the stock still be trading at a relatively cheap price? Today I will analyse the most recent data on HCA Healthcare’s outlook and valuation to see if the opportunity still exists.

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. My valuation model shows that the intrinsic value for the stock is $420.39, which is above what the market is valuing the company at the moment. This indicates a potential opportunity to buy low. 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. However, with a relatively muted profit growth of 4.4% expected over the next couple of years, growth doesn’t seem like a key driver for a buy decision for HCA Healthcare, at least in the short term.

What This Means For You

Are you a shareholder? Even though growth is relatively muted, since HCA is currently undervalued, it may be a great time to accumulate more of your holdings in the stock. However, there are also other factors such as financial health to consider, which could explain the current undervaluation.

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 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. In terms of investment risks, we've identified 2 warning signs with HCA Healthcare, and understanding these should be part of your investment process.

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.