Yahoo Finance A Sliding Share Price Has Us Looking At HCA Healthcare, Inc.'s (NYSE:HCA) P/E Ratio
Unfortunately for some shareholders, the HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) share price has dived 31% in the last thirty days. That drop has capped off a tough year for shareholders, with the share price down 33% in that time.
Assuming nothing else has changed, a lower share price makes a stock more attractive to potential buyers. While the market sentiment towards a stock is very changeable, in the long run, the share price will tend to move in the same direction as earnings per share. The implication here is that long term investors have an opportunity when expectations of a company are too low. Perhaps the simplest way to get a read on investors' expectations of a business is to look at its Price to Earnings Ratio (PE Ratio). Investors have optimistic expectations of companies with higher P/E ratios, compared to companies with lower P/E ratios.
Check out our latest analysis for HCA Healthcare
Does HCA Healthcare Have A Relatively High Or Low P/E For Its Industry?
HCA Healthcare's P/E of 8.50 indicates relatively low sentiment towards the stock. The image below shows that HCA Healthcare has a lower P/E than the average (19.4) P/E for companies in the healthcare industry.
This suggests that market participants think HCA Healthcare will underperform other companies in its industry. Many investors like to buy stocks when the market is pessimistic about their prospects. You should delve deeper. I like to check if company insiders have been buying or selling.
How Growth Rates Impact P/E Ratios
Generally speaking the rate of earnings growth has a profound impact on a company's P/E multiple. That's because companies that grow earnings per share quickly will rapidly increase the 'E' in the equation. That means unless the share price increases, the P/E will reduce in a few years. And as that P/E ratio drops, the company will look cheap, unless its share price increases.
HCA Healthcare saw earnings per share decrease by 5.8% last year. But EPS is up 19% over the last 5 years.
Don't Forget: The P/E Does Not Account For Debt or Bank Deposits
Don't forget that the P/E ratio considers market capitalization. That means it doesn't take debt or cash into account. The exact same company would hypothetically deserve a higher P/E ratio if it had a strong balance sheet, than if it had a weak one with lots of debt, because a cashed up company can spend on growth.
While growth expenditure doesn't always pay off, the point is that it is a good option to have; but one that the P/E ratio ignores.
HCA Healthcare's Balance Sheet
HCA Healthcare has net debt worth a very significant 110% of its market capitalization. This is a relatively high level of debt, so the stock probably deserves a relatively low P/E ratio. Keep that in mind when comparing it to other companies.
The Bottom Line On HCA Healthcare's P/E Ratio
HCA Healthcare has a P/E of 8.5. That's below the average in the US market, which is 13.0. The P/E reflects market pessimism that probably arises from the lack of recent EPS growth, paired with significant leverage. Given HCA Healthcare's P/E ratio has declined from 12.4 to 8.5 in the last month, we know for sure that the market is more worried about the business today, than it was back then. For those who prefer to invest with the flow of momentum, that might be a bad sign, but for deep value investors this stock might justify some research.
When the market is wrong about a stock, it gives savvy investors an opportunity. As value investor Benjamin Graham famously said, 'In the short run, the market is a voting machine but in the long run, it is a weighing machine. So this free visual report on analyst forecasts could hold the key to an excellent investment decision.
But note: HCA Healthcare may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with strong recent earnings growth (and a P/E ratio below 20).
If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned.
We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
