Yahoo Finance HCA Healthcare (HCA) to Acquire 41 Urgent Care Centers in Texas
HCA Healthcare, Inc. HCA recently agreed to acquire 41 urgent care centers from FastMed, a private healthcare service provider. The facilities, located in Texas, are expected to boost HCA Healthcare’s urgent care operations.
Per the deal, the acquirer will receive 19 and 22 urgent care facilities from the FastMed and MedPost brands, respectively. These facilities will expand HCA Healthcare’s footprint in cities like Austin, Dallas, El Paso, Houston and San Antonio.
The move is expected to connect local patients to the company’s broader healthcare network. Once the transaction closes by this summer, the facilities are expected to join HCA’s urgent care fleet, which currently has 268 clinics. In Texas alone, it has 92 urgent care facilities, 45 hospitals, 395 physician practices and other operations.
The company has invested around $6.6 billion in the state over the past six-year period. The terms of the deal are yet to be disclosed. HCA Healthcare emphasizes acquisitions for expedited growth. Its inorganic growth strategies have led to a significant increase in patient volumes and enabled network expansion across several markets.
During 2020, 2021 and 2022, HCA paid a total of around $568 million, $1.1 billion and $224 million, respectively, on acquiring hospitals and healthcare entities. Snapping up profitable operations helps the company boost its bottom line. It expects earnings per share for 2023 to be within the $17.25-$18.55 band, the midpoint of which implies 6% growth from the 2022 figure.
Price Performance
Shares of HCA Healthcare have jumped 36.5% in a year compared with the industry’s increase of 24%.
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Zacks Rank & Key Picks
The company currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Investors interested in the broader medical space may look at better-ranked players like Life Time Group Holdings, Inc. LTH, GeneDx Holdings Corp. WGS and Establishment Labs Holdings Inc. ESTA, each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Life Time Group’s 2023 earnings is pegged at 41 cents per share, indicating a massive improvement from the year-ago loss of 18 cents. Also, the consensus estimate for LTH’s revenues in 2023 suggests a 22.8% year-over-year rise.
The consensus estimate for GeneDx’s 2023 earnings indicates 89% year-over-year growth. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for WGS’ revenues in 2023 is pegged at $205 million.
The consensus mark for Establishment Labs’ 2023 earnings has improved 6.2% in the past 30 days. Furthermore, the consensus estimate for ESTA’s revenues in 2023 suggests 27.6% year-over-year growth.
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HCA Healthcare, Inc. (HCA) : Free Stock Analysis Report
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