Universal Health Services (UHS) Stock Price, News & Analysis

Company Overview

Universal Health Services, Inc., through its subsidiaries, owns and operates acute care hospitals, and outpatient and behavioral health care facilities. It operates through Acute Care Hospital Services and Behavioral Health Care Services segments. The company's hospitals offer general and specialty surgery, internal medicine, obstetrics, emergency room care, radiology, oncology, diagnostic and coronary care, pediatric services, pharmacy services, and/or behavioral health services. It also provides commercial health insurance services; and various management services, which include central purchasing, information, finance and control systems, facilities planning, physician recruitment, administrative personnel management, marketing, and public relations services. Universal Health Services, Inc. founded in 1978 and is headquartered in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania.

Key Stats

• Today's Range: $212.50 to $224.61
• 50-Day Range: $204.99 to $241.52
• 52-Week Range: $119.90 to $243.25
• Volume: 1.52 million shs
• Average Volume: 660,261 shs
• Market Capitalization: $14.40 billion
• P/E Ratio: 18.23
• Dividend Yield: 0.37%
• Price Target: $224.92
• Consensus Rating: Moderate Buy

Universal Health Services Stock Analysis - MarketRank™

Universal Health Services scored higher than 99% of companies evaluated by MarketBeat, and ranked 16th out of 995 stocks in the medical sector. Scores are calculated by averaging available category scores, with extra weight given to analysis and valuation.

Analyst's Opinion

• Score: 2.4 / 5
• Analyst Rating: Moderate Buy

Consensus Rating

Universal Health Services has received a consensus rating of Moderate Buy. The company's average rating score is 2.71, and is based on 8 buy ratings, 5 hold ratings, and no sell ratings.

Amount of Analyst Coverage

Universal Health Services has been the subject of 9 research reports in the past 90 days, demonstrating strong analyst interest in this stock.

Earnings and Valuation

• Score: 3.8 / 5
• Proj. Earnings Growth: 9.68%

Earnings Growth

Earnings for Universal Health Services are expected to grow by 9.68% in the coming year, from $15.91 to $17.45 per share.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. the Market

The P/E ratio of Universal Health Services is 18.23, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the market average P/E ratio of about 129.53.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. Sector

The P/E ratio of Universal Health Services is 18.23, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the Medical sector average P/E ratio of about 126.14.

Price to Earnings Growth Ratio

Universal Health Services has a PEG Ratio of 0.76. PEG Ratios below 1 indicate that a company could be undervalued.

Price to Book Value per Share Ratio

Universal Health Services has a P/B Ratio of 2.33. P/B Ratios below 3 indicates that a company is reasonably valued with respect to its assets and liabilities.

Short Interest

• Score: 3.0 / 5
• Short Interest Level: Healthy

Percentage of Shares Shorted

2.75% of the float of Universal Health Services has been sold short.

Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover

Universal Health Services has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 2.1, which is generally considered an acceptable ratio of short interest to trading volume.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in Universal Health Services has recently increased by 25.00%, indicating that investor sentiment is decreasing significantly.

Dividend

• Score: 1.7 / 5
• Dividend Strength: Weak

Dividend Yield

Universal Health Services has a dividend yield of 0.35%, which is in the bottom 25% of all stocks that pay dividends.

Dividend Growth

Universal Health Services does not have a long track record of dividend growth.

Dividend Coverage

The dividend payout ratio of Universal Health Services is 6.78%. This payout ratio is at a healthy, sustainable level, below 75%.

Dividend Sustainability

Based on earnings estimates, Universal Health Services will have a dividend payout ratio of 4.58% next year. This indicates that Universal Health Services will be able to sustain or increase its dividend.

Sustainability and ESG

• Score: 4.6 / 5
• Environmental Score: -1.10

Percentage of Shares Shorted

2.75% of the float of Universal Health Services has been sold short.

Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover

Universal Health Services has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 2.1, which is generally considered an acceptable ratio of short interest to trading volume.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in Universal Health Services has recently increased by 25.00%, indicating that investor sentiment is decreasing significantly.

News and Social Media

• Score: 3.2 / 5
• News Sentiment: 0.70

News Sentiment

Universal Health Services has a news sentiment score of 0.70. This score is calculated as an average of sentiment of articles about the company over the last seven days and ranges from 2 (good news) to -2 (bad news). This is a higher news sentiment than the 0.58 average news sentiment score of Medical companies.

News Coverage This Week

MarketBeat has tracked 19 news articles for Universal Health Services this week, compared to 7 articles on an average week.

Search Interest

Only 18 people have searched for UHS on MarketBeat in the last 30 days. This is a decrease of -10% compared to the previous 30 days.

MarketBeat Follows

4 people have added Universal Health Services to their MarketBeat watchlist in the last 30 days. This is an increase of 300% compared to the previous 30 days.

Company Ownership

• Score: 3.3 / 5
• Insider Trading: Selling Shares

Insider Buying vs. Insider Selling

In the past three months, Universal Health Services insiders have sold more of their company's stock than they have bought. Specifically, they have bought $0.00 in company stock and sold $4,653,535.00 in company stock.

Percentage Held by Insiders

16.10% of the stock of Universal Health Services is held by insiders. A high percentage of insider ownership can be a sign of company health.

Percentage Held by Institutions

86.05% of the stock of Universal Health Services is held by institutions. High institutional ownership can be a signal of strong market trust in this company.

UHS Stock Analysis - Frequently Asked Questions

How have UHS shares performed this year?

Universal Health Services' stock was trading at $152.44 at the start of the year. Since then, UHS stock has increased by 41.2% and is now trading at $215.17.
View the best growth stocks for 2024 here.

How were Universal Health Services' earnings last quarter?

Universal Health Services, Inc. (NYSE:UHS) released its earnings results on Wednesday, July, 24th. The health services provider reported $4.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.37 by $0.94. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year.
Read the conference call transcript.

Is Universal Health Services buying back stock?

Universal Health Services' Board of Directors approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, July 24th 2024, which allows the company to buy back $1,000,000,000 in shares, according to EventVestor. This means that the company could purchase up to 8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Who are Universal Health Services' major shareholders?

Top institutional shareholders of Universal Health Services include Czech National Bank (0.02%), SG Americas Securities LLC (0.01%), Park Avenue Securities LLC and Abacus Planning Group Inc.. Insiders that own company stock include Marc D Miller, Steve Filton, Eileen C Mcdonnell, Matthew Jay Peterson, Warren J Nimetz, Lawrence S Gibbs and Nina Chen-Langenmayr.
View institutional ownership trends.

How do I buy shares of Universal Health Services?

Shares of UHS stock can be purchased through any online brokerage account. Popular online brokerages with access to the U.S. stock market include Charles Schwab, E*TRADE, Fidelity, and Vanguard Brokerage Services.
Compare Top Brokerages Here.

What other stocks do shareholders of Universal Health Services own?

Based on aggregate information from My MarketBeat watchlists, some other companies that Universal Health Services investors own include UnitedHealth Group (UNH), Netflix (NFLX), Broadcom (AVGO), Alibaba Group (BABA), Bank of America (BAC), Walt Disney (DIS) and Intel (INTC).

Company Calendar

• Last Earnings: 7/24/2024
• Ex-Dividend for 9/17 Dividend: 9/03/2024
• Dividend Payable: 9/17/2024
• Today: 10/03/2024
• Next Earnings (Confirmed): 10/24/2024
• Fiscal Year End: 12/31/2024

Industry, Sector and Symbol

• Stock Exchange: NYSE
• Sector: Medical
• Industry: General medical & surgical hospitals
• Sub-Industry: Health Care Facilities
• Current Symbol: NYSE:UHS
• CUSIP: 91390310
• CIK: 352915
• Web: www.uhsinc.com
• Phone: (610) 768-3300
• Fax: 610-768-3336
• Employees: 96,700
• Year Founded: N/A

Price Target and Rating

• Average Stock Price Target: $224.92
• High Stock Price Target: $274.00
• Low Stock Price Target: $186.00
• Potential Upside/Downside: +4.2%
• Consensus Rating: Moderate Buy
• Rating Score (0-4): 2.71
• Research Coverage: 14 Analysts

Profitability

• EPS (Most Recent Fiscal Year): $11.80
• Trailing P/E Ratio: 18.30
• Forward P/E Ratio: 13.57
• P/E Growth: 0.76
• Net Income: $717.79 million
• Net Margins: 6.22%
• Pretax Margin: 8.12%
• Return on Equity: 14.91%
• Return on Assets: 6.71%

Debt

• Debt-to-Equity Ratio: 0.67
• Current Ratio: 1.28
• Quick Ratio: 1.17

Sales & Book Value

• Annual Sales: $15.02 billion
• Price / Sales: 0.96
• Cash Flow: $18.28 per share
• Price / Cash Flow: 11.81
• Book Value: $92.24 per share
• Price / Book: 2.34

Miscellaneous

• Outstanding Shares: 66,929,000
• Free Float: 56,153,000
• Market Cap: $14.45 billion
• Optionable: Optionable
• Beta: 1.28