Alcon (ALC) Competitors $96.94 +5.63 (+6.16%) Closing price 03/27/2025 03:59 PM EasternExtended Trading$96.86 -0.09 (-0.09%) As of 03/27/2025 07:56 PM Eastern Extended trading is trading that happens on electronic markets outside of regular trading hours. This is a fair market value extended hours price provided by Polygon.io. Learn more. Add Compare Share Share Competitors Stock AnalysisAnalyst ForecastsChartCompetitorsDividendEarningsFinancialsHeadlinesInsider TradesOptions ChainOwnershipShort InterestTrendsBuy This Stock ALC vs. HCA, THC, UHS, EHC, ENSG, ACHC, SEM, BKD, USPH, and WOOFShould you be buying Alcon stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of Alcon include HCA Healthcare (HCA), Tenet Healthcare (THC), Universal Health Services (UHS), Encompass Health (EHC), The Ensign Group (ENSG), Acadia Healthcare (ACHC), Select Medical (SEM), Brookdale Senior Living (BKD), U.S. Physical Therapy (USPH), and Petco Health and Wellness (WOOF). These companies are all part of the "health care facilities" industry. Alcon vs. HCA Healthcare Tenet Healthcare Universal Health Services Encompass Health The Ensign Group Acadia Healthcare Select Medical Brookdale Senior Living U.S. Physical Therapy Petco Health and Wellness Alcon (NYSE:ALC) and HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) are both large-cap medical companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings, valuation, community ranking and media sentiment. Does the media favor ALC or HCA? In the previous week, HCA Healthcare had 21 more articles in the media than Alcon. MarketBeat recorded 35 mentions for HCA Healthcare and 14 mentions for Alcon. HCA Healthcare's average media sentiment score of 0.96 beat Alcon's score of 0.34 indicating that HCA Healthcare is being referred to more favorably in the news media. Company Very Positive Positive Neutral Negative Very Negative Overall Sentiment Alcon 0 Very Positive mention(s) 5 Positive mention(s) 8 Neutral mention(s) 0 Negative mention(s) 0 Very Negative mention(s) Neutral HCA Healthcare 27 Very Positive mention(s) 1 Positive mention(s) 5 Neutral mention(s) 0 Negative mention(s) 1 Very Negative mention(s) Positive Do institutionals and insiders have more ownership in ALC or HCA? 53.9% of Alcon shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 62.7% of HCA Healthcare shares are held by institutional investors. 1.5% of Alcon shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.6% of HCA Healthcare shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth. Which has stronger earnings and valuation, ALC or HCA? HCA Healthcare has higher revenue and earnings than Alcon. HCA Healthcare is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Alcon, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks. CompanyGross RevenuePrice/Sales RatioNet IncomeEarnings Per SharePrice/Earnings RatioAlcon$9.91B4.82$974M$2.0547.29HCA Healthcare$70.60B1.19$5.76B$21.9715.56 Which has more risk and volatility, ALC or HCA? Alcon has a beta of 1.07, meaning that its stock price is 7% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, HCA Healthcare has a beta of 1.68, meaning that its stock price is 68% more volatile than the S&P 500. Do analysts prefer ALC or HCA? Alcon presently has a consensus price target of $103.10, suggesting a potential upside of 6.35%. HCA Healthcare has a consensus price target of $385.67, suggesting a potential upside of 12.79%. Given HCA Healthcare's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe HCA Healthcare is more favorable than Alcon.Company Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Alcon 0 Sell rating(s) 3 Hold rating(s) 11 Buy rating(s) 0 Strong Buy rating(s) 2.79HCA Healthcare 1 Sell rating(s) 3 Hold rating(s) 12 Buy rating(s) 2 Strong Buy rating(s) 2.83 Does the MarketBeat Community favor ALC or HCA? HCA Healthcare received 1032 more outperform votes than Alcon when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 77.39% of users gave HCA Healthcare an outperform vote while only 63.49% of users gave Alcon an outperform vote. CompanyUnderperformOutperformAlconOutperform Votes20063.49% Underperform Votes11536.51% HCA HealthcareOutperform Votes123277.39% Underperform Votes36022.61% Is ALC or HCA more profitable? Alcon has a net margin of 11.89% compared to HCA Healthcare's net margin of 8.16%. HCA Healthcare's return on equity of 586.47% beat Alcon's return on equity.Company Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Alcon11.89% 7.17% 5.03% HCA Healthcare 8.16%586.47%9.93% Is ALC or HCA a better dividend stock? Alcon pays an annual dividend of $0.26 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.3%. HCA Healthcare pays an annual dividend of $2.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. Alcon pays out 12.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. HCA Healthcare pays out 13.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. SummaryHCA Healthcare beats Alcon on 17 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks. Remove Ads Get Alcon News Delivered to You Automatically Sign up to receive the latest news and ratings for ALC and its competitors with MarketBeat's FREE daily newsletter. Email Address New MarketBeat Followers Over TimeWhat are MarkeBeat Followers?This chart shows the number of new MarketBeat users adding {thisCompany.Symbol} and its top 5 competitors to their watchlist. Each company is represented with a line over a 90 day period. Skip ChartMedia Sentiment Over TimeWhat is Media Sentiment?This chart shows the average media sentiment of NYSE and its competitors over the past 90 days as caculated by MarketBeat. The averaged score is equivalent to the following: Very Negative Sentiment <= -1.5, Negative Sentiment > -1.5 and <= -0.5, Neutral Sentiment > -0.5 and < 0.5, Positive Sentiment >= 0.5 and < 1.5, and Very Positive Sentiment >= 1.5.Skip Chart ALC vs. The Competition Export to ExcelMetricAlconOphthalmic goods IndustryMedical SectorNYSE ExchangeMarket Cap$47.82B$11.35B$5.64B$19.62BDividend Yield0.28%0.96%4.56%3.74%P/E Ratio41.4336.4623.1333.60Price / Sales4.823.42383.8927.47Price / Cash17.2314.5338.1617.54Price / Book2.322.806.944.60Net Income$974M$224.27M$3.20B$1.02B7 Day Performance6.10%0.10%-2.30%-0.16%1 Month Performance5.29%-6.52%3.10%-1.99%1 Year Performance16.41%-17.72%11.22%4.91% Alcon Competitors List Export to ExcelCompanyMarketRankShare PriceAnalysts' Price Target1Y Price PerformanceMarket CapRevenueP/E RatioEmployee CountIndicator(s)ALCAlcon2.6472 of 5 stars$96.95+6.2%$103.10+6.3%+16.4%$47.82B$9.91B41.4325,200Analyst UpgradeShort Interest ↓High Trading VolumeHCAHCA Healthcare4.9663 of 5 stars$334.21+1.6%$385.67+15.4%+3.1%$82.28B$70.60B15.21294,000Short Interest ↓THCTenet Healthcare4.8132 of 5 stars$129.87+5.4%$163.88+26.2%+28.2%$12.35B$20.67B4.03102,400Analyst ForecastPositive NewsUHSUniversal Health Services4.9677 of 5 stars$182.24+4.6%$230.75+26.6%+2.4%$11.85B$15.83B12.1293,800Analyst ForecastShort Interest ↑Positive NewsEHCEncompass Health4.604 of 5 stars$99.99+3.0%$107.67+7.7%+30.2%$10.07B$5.37B22.4235,000Positive NewsENSGThe Ensign Group4.7956 of 5 stars$130.40+1.7%$165.17+26.7%+2.2%$7.49B$4.26B25.5239,300Positive NewsACHCAcadia Healthcare4.67 of 5 stars$28.94+0.9%$56.31+94.6%-61.6%$2.69B$3.15B9.4923,500Analyst ForecastShort Interest ↑SEMSelect Medical4.9965 of 5 stars$16.88+1.9%$27.25+61.5%-42.0%$2.18B$5.19B10.2354,600BKDBrookdale Senior Living3.4183 of 5 stars$6.05+0.4%$7.50+24.1%-10.8%$1.21B$3.13B-6.7936,000Gap DownUSPHU.S. Physical Therapy3.6221 of 5 stars$73.69+1.2%$109.00+47.9%-34.3%$1.12B$671.35M78.396,140Short Interest ↓WOOFPetco Health and Wellness2.9498 of 5 stars$2.47+1.2%$4.28+73.2%+46.6%$774.22M$6.24B-6.1829,000Analyst ForecastOptions VolumeNews CoverageGap Up Remove Ads Related Companies and Tools Related Companies HCA Healthcare Competitors Tenet Healthcare Competitors Universal Health Services Competitors Encompass Health Competitors The Ensign Group Competitors Acadia Healthcare Competitors Select Medical Competitors Brookdale Senior Living Competitors U.S. Physical Therapy Competitors Petco Health and Wellness Competitors Top 10 Stock Comparisons Semiconductor Stocks Artificial Intelligence Stocks Growth Stocks Magnificent Seven Stocks Pharmaceutical Stocks Ecommerce Stocks Bitcoin Stocks Meme Stocks Cryptocurrency Stocks Cybersecurity Stocks This page (NYSE:ALC) was last updated on 3/28/2025 by MarketBeat.com Staff From Our PartnersElon Warns: Exec Order 14024 Targets DollarExecutive Order 14024 is paving the way for irreversible damage to the dollar's value—threatening your wealth,...Priority Gold | SponsoredWarning: “DOGE Collapse” imminentElon Strikes Back You may already sense that the tide is turning against Elon Musk and DOGE. 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