UHS vs. ALC, THC, EHC, ENSG, ACHC, SEM, BKD, USPH, WOOF, and CYH
Should you be buying Universal Health Services stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of Universal Health Services include Alcon (ALC), Tenet Healthcare (THC), Encompass Health (EHC), The Ensign Group (ENSG), Acadia Healthcare (ACHC), Select Medical (SEM), Brookdale Senior Living (BKD), U.S. Physical Therapy (USPH), Petco Health and Wellness (WOOF), and Community Health Systems (CYH). These companies are all part of the "health care facilities" industry.
Universal Health Services vs.
Universal Health Services (NYSE:UHS) and Alcon (NYSE:ALC) are both large-cap medical companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations, community ranking, earnings, valuation, risk and media sentiment.
Alcon has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Universal Health Services. Universal Health Services is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Alcon, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
In the previous week, Universal Health Services had 2 more articles in the media than Alcon. MarketBeat recorded 13 mentions for Universal Health Services and 11 mentions for Alcon. Universal Health Services' average media sentiment score of 1.09 beat Alcon's score of -0.18 indicating that Universal Health Services is being referred to more favorably in the media.
Universal Health Services has a beta of 1.32, suggesting that its share price is 32% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Alcon has a beta of 1.07, suggesting that its share price is 7% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Alcon has a net margin of 11.89% compared to Universal Health Services' net margin of 6.66%. Universal Health Services' return on equity of 15.75% beat Alcon's return on equity.
Universal Health Services received 442 more outperform votes than Alcon when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 65.05% of users gave Universal Health Services an outperform vote while only 63.69% of users gave Alcon an outperform vote.
Universal Health Services pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.4%. Alcon pays an annual dividend of $0.26 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.3%. Universal Health Services pays out 4.8% 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. Universal Health Services is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.
86.1% of Universal Health Services shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 53.9% of Alcon shares are held by institutional investors. 16.1% of Universal Health Services shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.5% of Alcon shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
Universal Health Services currently has a consensus target price of $230.75, indicating a potential upside of 24.25%. Alcon has a consensus target price of $103.10, indicating a potential upside of 11.17%. Given Universal Health Services' higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Universal Health Services is more favorable than Alcon.
Summary
Universal Health Services beats Alcon on 15 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.
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New MarketBeat Followers Over Time
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.
Media Sentiment Over Time
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.
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This page (NYSE:UHS) was last updated on 3/25/2025 by MarketBeat.com Staff
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