HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.72

HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, January 27th,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of 0.72 per share on Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This is a positive change from HCA Healthcare's previous quarterly dividend of $0.66.

HCA Healthcare has raised its dividend by an average of 11.2% per year over the last three years. HCA Healthcare has a payout ratio of 9.7% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect HCA Healthcare to earn $24.77 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 10.7%.

HCA Healthcare Trading Up 6.1 %

HCA Healthcare stock traded up $19.11 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $332.18. The stock had a trading volume of 2,028,105 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,721,687. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $313.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $353.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.14 billion, a PE ratio of 14.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.64. HCA Healthcare has a twelve month low of $281.61 and a twelve month high of $417.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 48.71, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.12.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.03 by $0.19. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.52% and a return on equity of 520.98%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.90 earnings per share. Analysts expect that HCA Healthcare will post 21.75 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Erol R. Akdamar sold 2,900 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $353.00, for a total value of $1,023,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 6,843 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,415,579. The trade was a 29.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Phillip G. Billington sold 3,897 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total value of $1,363,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 52,702 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,445,700. The trade was a 6.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on HCA. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $384.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Bank of America lowered their target price on HCA Healthcare from $380.00 to $370.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $450.00 to $440.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 28th. Barclays dropped their target price on HCA Healthcare from $392.00 to $366.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered HCA Healthcare from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $400.00 to $320.00 in a report on Monday, November 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $382.19.

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.

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