Alcon (ALC) Competitors $91.50 +0.92 (+1.01%) Closing price 03:59 PM EasternExtended Trading$90.89 -0.61 (-0.67%) As of 04:10 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 ChainOwnershipSEC FilingsShort 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 HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) and Alcon (NYSE:ALC) are both large-cap medical companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, community ranking, profitability, valuation, media sentiment, analyst recommendations, earnings, risk and institutional ownership. Do analysts prefer HCA or ALC? HCA Healthcare presently has a consensus target price of $381.67, indicating a potential upside of 13.79%. Alcon has a consensus target price of $106.22, indicating a potential upside of 16.09%. Given Alcon's higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Alcon is more favorable than HCA Healthcare.Company Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score HCA Healthcare 1 Sell rating(s) 5 Hold rating(s) 11 Buy rating(s) 2 Strong Buy rating(s) 2.74Alcon 0 Sell rating(s) 4 Hold rating(s) 10 Buy rating(s) 0 Strong Buy rating(s) 2.71 Which has higher earnings & valuation, HCA or ALC? 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 RatioHCA Healthcare$70.60B1.17$5.76B$21.9715.27Alcon$9.91B4.55$974M$2.0544.63 Is HCA or ALC a better dividend stock? HCA Healthcare pays an annual dividend of $2.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. Alcon pays an annual dividend of $0.26 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.3%. HCA Healthcare pays out 13.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Alcon pays out 12.7% 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. Does the media prefer HCA or ALC? In the previous week, HCA Healthcare had 39 more articles in the media than Alcon. MarketBeat recorded 45 mentions for HCA Healthcare and 6 mentions for Alcon. HCA Healthcare's average media sentiment score of 1.09 beat Alcon's score of 0.29 indicating that HCA Healthcare is being referred to more favorably in the media. Company Very Positive Positive Neutral Negative Very Negative Overall Sentiment HCA Healthcare 28 Very Positive mention(s) 2 Positive mention(s) 12 Neutral mention(s) 1 Negative mention(s) 0 Very Negative mention(s) Positive Alcon 1 Very Positive mention(s) 2 Positive mention(s) 2 Neutral mention(s) 0 Negative mention(s) 0 Very Negative mention(s) Neutral Is HCA or ALC 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 HCA Healthcare8.16% 586.47% 9.93% Alcon 11.89%7.17%5.03% Which has more risk & volatility, HCA or ALC? HCA Healthcare has a beta of 1.48, suggesting that its stock price is 48% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Alcon has a beta of 0.99, suggesting that its stock price is 1% less volatile than the S&P 500. Do institutionals & insiders believe in HCA or ALC? 62.7% of HCA Healthcare shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 53.9% of Alcon shares are held by institutional investors. 1.3% of HCA Healthcare shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.5% of Alcon shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term. Does the MarketBeat Community believe in HCA or ALC? HCA Healthcare received 1029 more outperform votes than Alcon when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 77.24% of users gave HCA Healthcare an outperform vote while only 63.64% of users gave Alcon an outperform vote. CompanyUnderperformOutperformHCA HealthcareOutperform Votes123277.24% Underperform Votes36322.76% AlconOutperform Votes20363.64% Underperform Votes11636.36% SummaryHCA Healthcare beats Alcon on 15 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$45.13B$10.65B$5.33B$18.51BDividend Yield0.28%0.96%5.11%4.24%P/E Ratio39.1034.4621.7331.15Price / Sales4.552.70379.1425.69Price / Cash17.2314.5338.1517.53Price / Book2.192.266.464.29Net Income$974M$224.27M$3.20B$1.02B7 Day Performance10.29%6.30%6.54%6.59%1 Month Performance2.80%-16.10%-8.55%-6.88%1 Year Performance12.84%-27.29%10.33%1.23% Alcon Competitors List Export to ExcelCompanyMarketRankShare PriceAnalysts' Price Target1Y Price PerformanceMarket CapRevenueP/E RatioEmployee CountIndicator(s)ALCAlcon2.8983 of 5 stars$91.50+1.0%$106.22+16.1%+11.4%$45.13B$9.91B39.1025,200Short Interest ↑High Trading VolumeHCAHCA Healthcare4.7896 of 5 stars$329.63-0.6%$385.67+17.0%+5.6%$81.15B$70.60B15.00294,000Analyst ForecastPositive NewsTHCTenet Healthcare4.9699 of 5 stars$120.290.0%$166.41+38.3%+24.2%$11.44B$20.67B3.73102,400Analyst ForecastShort Interest ↓News CoveragePositive NewsGap DownUHSUniversal Health Services4.9871 of 5 stars$171.83-1.5%$228.38+32.9%+7.2%$11.17B$15.83B11.4293,800Analyst ForecastEHCEncompass Health4.0484 of 5 stars$96.75-1.2%$107.67+11.3%+28.4%$9.74B$5.37B21.6935,000News CoveragePositive NewsHigh Trading VolumeENSGThe Ensign Group4.7107 of 5 stars$124.63-3.6%$165.17+32.5%+8.9%$7.16B$4.26B24.3929,900Positive NewsACHCAcadia Healthcare4.534 of 5 stars$26.42-3.5%$52.19+97.5%-63.9%$2.45B$3.15B8.6623,500SEMSelect Medical4.9263 of 5 stars$15.69-0.8%$27.25+73.7%-40.8%$2.02B$5.19B9.5153,800Positive NewsBKDBrookdale Senior Living3.4571 of 5 stars$5.59-3.7%$7.40+32.3%-3.7%$1.12B$3.13B-6.2836,000Short Interest ↓News CoverageGap DownUSPHU.S. Physical Therapy3.675 of 5 stars$64.77-3.5%$109.00+68.3%-31.9%$983.93M$671.35M68.906,140News CoveragePositive NewsWOOFPetco Health and Wellness3.5669 of 5 stars$2.89+1.0%$4.11+42.2%+90.7%$905.87M$6.12B-7.2328,500Positive NewsGap Down 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 4/15/2025 by MarketBeat.com Staff From Our Partners[Action Required] Claim Your FREE IRS Loophole GuideThis shouldn't surprise anyone who's been paying attention, but... Pres. Trump may be about to unleash the ...Colonial Metals | SponsoredGet Your Bank Account “Fed Invasion” Ready with THESE 4 Simple StepsStarting as soon as a few months from now, the United States government will make a sweeping change to bank ac...Weiss Ratings | SponsoredThe Trump Dump is starting; Get out of stocks now?The first 365 days of the Trump presidency… Will be the best time to get rich in American history.Paradigm Press | SponsoredElon Musk Confirms: Tesla’s Optimus is Replacing Workers… and Heading to MarsElon Musk just confirmed Tesla’s robot will go to Mars. But on Earth, it may trigger a trillion-dollar tech sh...InvestorPlace | SponsoredAmerica’s Retirement Accounts Are at Risk—Here’s WhyWhen Trump took office in 2017, gold was just $1,100 an ounce. By the time he left, it had soared to $1,839. ...Premier Gold Co | SponsoredCollect $7k per month from Tesla’s SECRET dividendTesla doesn't pay a traditional dividend.... But I just discovered a secret backdoor to collect a secret 69...Investors Alley | SponsoredTrump to redistribute trillions of dollars Trump’s Final Reset Inside the shocking plot to re-engineer America’s financial system…and why you need to ...Porter & Company | SponsoredURGENT: This Altcoin Opportunity Won’t Wait – Act NowMy friends Joel and Adam have a simple motto: "For us, it's always a bull market." That’s because their 92%...Crypto Swap Profits | Sponsored Adding Choose a watchlist: Watchlist Adding You have already added five stocks to your watchlist. Upgrade to MarketBeat All Access to add more stocks to your watchlist. Adding Alcon Inc. Please log in to your account or sign up in order to add this asset to your watchlist. Share Alcon With A Colleague Link copied to clipboard. Get 30 Days of MarketBeat All Access for Free Sign up for MarketBeat All Access to gain access to MarketBeat's full suite of research tools. Start Your 30-Day Trial MarketBeat All Access Features Best-in-Class Portfolio Monitoring Get personalized stock ideas. Compare portfolio to indices. Check stock news, ratings, SEC filings, and more. Stock Ideas and Recommendations See daily stock ideas from top analysts. Receive short-term trading ideas from MarketBeat. Identify trending stocks on social media. Advanced Stock Screeners and Research Tools Use our seven stock screeners to find suitable stocks. Stay informed with MarketBeat's real-time news. Export data to Excel for personal analysis. Sign in to your free account to enjoy these benefits In-depth profiles and analysis for 20,000 public companies. Real-time analyst ratings, insider transactions, earnings data, and more. Our daily ratings and market update email newsletter. Sign in to your free account to enjoy all that MarketBeat has to offer. Sign In Create Account Your Email Address: Email Address Required Your Password: Password Required Log In or Sign in with Facebook Sign in with Google Forgot your password? Your Email Address: Please enter your email address. Please enter a valid email address Choose a Password: Please enter your password. Your password must be at least 8 characters long and contain at least 1 number, 1 letter, and 1 special character. Create My Account (Free) or Sign in with Facebook Sign in with Google By creating a free account, you agree to our terms of service. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
