Hospital stocks saw a downturn recently following a report highlighting Universal Health (UHS) as a notable recipient of Medicaid supplemental programs. Tenet Healthcare (THC) and HCA Healthcare (HCA, Financial) were also mentioned, albeit to a lesser extent. These programs play a critical role in addressing historical underfunding issues, posits RBC Capital. The firm asserts that the strategic importance of these programs makes them politically challenging to cut to the extent suggested in recent discussions.
RBC Capital emphasizes the crucial role these funds play for smaller, rural hospitals, where cuts could severely impact service availability and patient access. The potential reduction in funding could pose significant operational challenges, potentially limiting healthcare access for vast populations.
Despite the concerns, RBC maintains its stance that drastic funding cuts are unlikely, given the support from Republican governors for these programs. The firm predicts that any potential changes would likely involve modest adjustments, such as a decrease in the provider tax hold-harmless rate from 6% to 5%, rather than sweeping reductions.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast
Based on the one-year price targets offered by 21 analysts, the average target price for HCA Healthcare Inc (HCA, Financial) is $373.16 with a high estimate of $438.00 and a low estimate of $317.45. The average target implies an upside of 17.84% from the current price of $316.68. More detailed estimate data can be found on the HCA Healthcare Inc (HCA) Forecast page.
Based on the consensus recommendation from 26 brokerage firms, HCA Healthcare Inc's (HCA, Financial) average brokerage recommendation is currently 2.2, indicating "Outperform" status. The rating scale ranges from 1 to 5, where 1 signifies Strong Buy, and 5 denotes Sell.
Based on GuruFocus estimates, the estimated GF Value for HCA Healthcare Inc (HCA, Financial) in one year is $377.77, suggesting a upside of 19.29% from the current price of $316.68. GF Value is GuruFocus' estimate of the fair value that the stock should be traded at. It is calculated based on the historical multiples the stock has traded at previously, as well as past business growth and the future estimates of the business' performance. More detailed data can be found on the HCA Healthcare Inc (HCA) Summary page.
