ACHC vs NUTX vs ARDT Stock Comparison

Acadia Healthcare Company, Nutex Health and Ardent Health Prices as of Nov 5, 2026 Peers: Industry group
NUTX Nutex Health Inc.
$193.64 -11.3% 1M +47.5% 1Y
Market cap
$1.33B
P/E
8.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$796.53M
Div. yield
–
Hospitals Healthcare
5 wins
ARDT Ardent Health, Inc.
$15.89 +48.8% 1M +8.3% 1Y
Market cap
$2.24B
P/E
15.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$6.45B
Div. yield
–
Hospitals Healthcare
1 win

Head to Head

10 decided of 12

Nutex Health leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Nutex Health 5, Acadia Healthcare Company 4, Ardent Health 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionACHCNUTXARDTLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $3.23B $1.33B $2.24B ACHC
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only -2.8x 8.1x 15.3x NUTX
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 22.1x 6.9x 17.3x NUTX
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +4.5% -18.8% +2.0% ACHC
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months -33.1% 20.7% 2.3% NUTX
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital -24.6% 43.9% 9.5% NUTX
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA -2.5x -0.6x 0.6x ACHC
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield — — — –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +68.0% +47.5% +8.3% ACHC
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -11.6%/yr — — –
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 65.0% 90.5% 64.0% ARDT
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 25/100 83/100 65/100 NUTX

Percentile Scorecard

ACHCNUTXARDT

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisACHCNUTXARDT
Valuation 44 #54 of 95 95 #6 of 95 99 #2 of 95
Growth 3 #85 of 88 79 #19 of 88 33 #59 of 88
Profitability 19 #71 of 87 99 #2 of 87 71 #26 of 87
Financial Health 33 #67 of 100 88 #13 of 100 60 #41 of 100
Shareholder Returns – 53 #29 of 60 64 #22 of 60
Overall 25 83 65
  • ACHC ranked among 102 companies in Healthcare Providers
  • NUTX ranked among 102 companies in Healthcare Providers
  • ARDT ranked among 102 companies in Healthcare Providers

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodACHCNUTXARDTSPY
1 month +19.6%-11.3%+48.8% -5.9%
3 months +13.1%+27.5%+37.2% -4.6%
6 months +42.0%+43.9%+60.5% +0.2%
Year to date +144.8%+17.6%+80.0% +7.5%
1 year +68.0%+47.5%+8.3% +8.2%
3 years -52.7%+395.4%— +68.3%
3 years, per year -22.1%+70.5%— +19.0%
5 years -45.9%—— +56.5%
5 years, per year -11.6%—— +9.4%
10 years -6.9%—— +251.5%
10 years, per year -0.7%—— +13.4%

Risk

MeasureACHCNUTXARDTSPY
Volatility, 1Y 65.0%90.5%64.0% 13.6%
Downside volatility, 1Y 65.2%88.9%74.6% 14.2%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.661.830.57 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 1.050.520.13 0.60
Max drawdown, 5Y -86.9%-99.9%-61.2% -25.4%
From 52-week high -2.4%-13.9%0.0% -5.9%
52-week high $35.61$225.00$15.89 $779.14
52-week low $11.68$87.01$7.83 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleACHCNUTXARDT
P/E now vs peer median -2.8xmedian 24.8x 8.1xmedian 24.8x 15.3xmedian 24.8x
P/S now vs peer median 0.9xmedian 1.6x 1.7xmedian 1.6x 0.3xmedian 1.6x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median -6.2xmedian 15.9x 3.4xmedian 15.9x 5.0xmedian 15.9x
P/FCF now vs peer median -135.3xmedian 20.9x 5.4xmedian 20.9x 7.9xmedian 20.9x
P/B now vs peer median 1.6xmedian 3.3x 2.5xmedian 3.3x 1.3xmedian 3.3x
PEG now vs peer median 0.01median 0.88 0.08median 0.88 —median 0.88

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsACHCNUTXARDT
Revenue $3.41B $796.53M $6.45B
Gross profit – $380.67M –
Operating income – $311.00M –
Net income -$1.12B $233.03M $194.40M
Free cash flow -$23.86M $248.10M $282.30M
EPS (diluted) $-12.29 $23.39 $1.03
Cash & equivalents $163.31M $249.91M $766.24M
Total debt $2.35B $42.37M $1.10B
Shares (diluted) 91.75M 7.04M 141.70M
Enterprise value $2.83B $585.19M -$177.78M

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricACHCNUTXARDT
P/E -2.8x 8.1x 15.3x
P/FCF -135.3x 5.4x 7.9x
P/Operating cash flow 13.7x 5.1x 4.6x
P/S 0.9x 1.7x 0.3x
P/B 1.6x 2.5x 1.3x
P/Tangible book 1.7x 2.6x 1.3x
EV/EBITDA -6.2x 3.4x 5.0x
EV/EBIT -5.0x 3.6x 7.5x
EV/Revenue 1.6x 1.4x 0.4x
EV/FCF -227.1x 4.5x 9.1x
EV/Operating cash flow 23.0x 4.3x 5.3x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.01 0.08 –

Growth

14 metrics
MetricACHCNUTXARDT
Revenue growth (1Y) 4.5% -18.8% 2.0%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 6.0% 50.9% –
Gross profit growth (1Y) – -29.5% –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – 158.3% –
Operating income growth (1Y) – -13.4% –
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – 208.2% –
Net income growth (1Y) -1,044% -11.6% -16.1%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -350.5% 121.3% –
EPS growth (1Y) -1,137% 46.8% -28.9%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -294.4% 96.4% –
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -29.8% 45.4% 31.4%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -20.0% 224.9% –
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 93.1% 40.7% 79.3%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -31.5% 237.1% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricACHCNUTXARDT
Gross margin – 47.8% –
EBITDA margin -25.6% 41.8% 8.0%
Operating margin – 39.0% –
Pretax margin -31.7% 36.7% 4.5%
Net margin -33.1% 20.7% 2.3%
FCF margin -0.7% 31.1% 4.4%
Operating cash flow margin 6.9% 32.4% 7.5%
Return on equity -56.1% 44.5% 13.1%
Return on assets -20.2% 23.3% 4.3%
Return on invested capital -24.6% 43.9% 9.5%
Return on capital employed -21.6% 35.9% 8.0%
Asset turnover 0.6x 0.8x 1.2x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) -0.2x 1.1x 2.5x
Stock comp / revenue 1.0% 0.5% 0.5%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricACHCNUTXARDT
Debt / assets 42.3% 4.1% 20.5%
Debt / equity 1.2x 0.1x 0.6x
Net debt / EBITDA -2.5x -0.6x 0.6x
Debt / FCF -98.6x 0.2x 3.9x
Liabilities / assets 63.6% 47.6% 66.6%
Equity / assets 36.4% 52.4% 33.4%
Interest coverage – 16.2x 6.5x
Current ratio 1.6x 4.8x 2.1x
Quick ratio 1.2x 4.6x 1.4x
Cash ratio 0.3x 1.9x 0.8x
Altman Z-score 0.41 3.79 2.21

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricACHCNUTXARDT
Dividend yield – – –
Net buyback yield – -0.2% 0.5%
Shareholder yield – -0.2% 0.5%
Payout ratio (earnings) – 36.8% –
Payout ratio (FCF) – 34.6% –
Dividend growth (1Y) – 90.9% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – 148.5% –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusACHCNUTXARDT
Forward P/E 22.1xFY2026 6.9xFY2026 17.3xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $1.57FY2026 $27.99FY2026 $0.92FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -21.5%FY2026 +167.1%FY2026 -4.2%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +22.3% -8.6% +19.6%
Revenue, next fiscal year $3.53BFY2026 $824.09MFY2026 $6.84BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +6.5%FY2026 -5.8%FY2026 +8.2%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +6.9% +19.4% +1.4%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersACHCNUTXARDT
Held by institutions 100.0% 42.8% 76.4%
Institutions holding 314 154 137
Change in shares held, QoQ +3.7% +5.8% +1.4%
Institutions buying 165 100 87
Institutions selling 98 36 36
Buyers to sellers 1.68 2.78 2.42

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

ACHCNUTXARDT
ACHC 1.00 0.18 0.27
NUTX 0.18 1.00 0.14
ARDT 0.27 0.14 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ACHC, NUTX and ARDT?

Acadia Healthcare Company (ACHC) is the largest by market capitalisation: Acadia Healthcare Company (ACHC) $3.23B, Nutex Health (NUTX) $1.33B, Ardent Health (ARDT) $2.24B.

Which stock is cheaper, ACHC, NUTX and ARDT?

Nutex Health (NUTX) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Acadia Healthcare Company (ACHC) -2.8x, Nutex Health (NUTX) 8.1x, Ardent Health (ARDT) 15.3x). On next year's consensus earnings, Nutex Health (NUTX) is cheapest (Acadia Healthcare Company (ACHC) 22.1x, Nutex Health (NUTX) 6.9x, Ardent Health (ARDT) 17.3x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Acadia Healthcare Company (ACHC) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Acadia Healthcare Company (ACHC) +4.5%, Nutex Health (NUTX) -18.8%, Ardent Health (ARDT) +2.0%.

Which company is more profitable?

Nutex Health (NUTX) has the highest net margin (Acadia Healthcare Company (ACHC) -33.1%, Nutex Health (NUTX) 20.7%, Ardent Health (ARDT) 2.3%). On return on invested capital, Nutex Health (NUTX) leads (Acadia Healthcare Company (ACHC) -24.6%, Nutex Health (NUTX) 43.9%, Ardent Health (ARDT) 9.5%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Acadia Healthcare Company (ACHC) returned the most: Acadia Healthcare Company (ACHC) +68.0%, Nutex Health (NUTX) +47.5%, Ardent Health (ARDT) +8.3%. Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Ardent Health (ARDT) has been the steadiest (Acadia Healthcare Company (ACHC) 65.0%, Nutex Health (NUTX) 90.5%, Ardent Health (ARDT) 64.0%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, ACHC, NUTX and ARDT?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Nutex Health (NUTX) leads on 5. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.