ARDT vs NUTX vs ACHC Stock Comparison

Ardent Health, Nutex Health and Acadia Healthcare Company Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
ARDT Ardent Health, Inc.
$12.20 +15.7% 1M -19.8% 1Y
Market cap
$1.68B
P/E
21.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$6.41B
Div. yield
–
Hospitals Healthcare
1 win
NUTX Nutex Health Inc.
$209.01 -5.0% 1M +66.4% 1Y
Market cap
$1.43B
P/E
7.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$846.72M
Div. yield
0.06%
Hospitals Healthcare
7 wins

Head to Head

10 decided of 12

Nutex Health leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (Nutex Health 7, Acadia Healthcare Company 2, Ardent Health 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionARDTNUTXACHCLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $1.68B $1.43B $2.70B ACHC
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 21.4x 7.9x -2.4x NUTX
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 13.1x 7.5x 20.0x NUTX
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +3.3% +6.9% +4.3% NUTX
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 1.2% 21.2% -33.4% NUTX
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 7.4% 56.1% -24.7% NUTX
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.9x -0.4x -2.5x ACHC
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.06% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -19.8% +66.4% +34.0% NUTX
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years — — -11.0%/yr –
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 59.6% 89.4% 64.3% ARDT
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 67/100 82/100 26/100 NUTX

Percentile Scorecard

ARDTNUTXACHC

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

AxisARDTNUTXACHC
Valuation 99 #2 of 93 96 #5 of 93 45 #52 of 93
Growth 47 #47 of 88 91 #9 of 88 6 #83 of 88
Profitability 66 #30 of 87 99 #2 of 87 17 #72 of 87
Financial Health 58 #43 of 100 89 #12 of 100 34 #66 of 100
Shareholder Returns – 36 #36 of 56 –
Overall 67 82 26
  • ARDT ranked among 103 companies in Healthcare Providers
  • NUTX ranked among 103 companies in Healthcare Providers
  • ACHC ranked among 103 companies in Healthcare Providers

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodARDTNUTXACHCSPY
1 month +15.7%-5.0%+11.6% -0.8%
3 months +11.4%+40.6%-3.6% +3.5%
6 months +21.5%+88.7%+11.3% +7.0%
Year to date +38.2%+27.0%+120.9% +12.2%
1 year -19.8%+66.4%+34.0% +13.0%
3 years —+665.6%-56.5% +86.3%
3 years, per year —+97.2%-24.2% +23.1%
5 years ——-44.2% +68.6%
5 years, per year ——-11.0% +11.0%
10 years ——-16.8% +258.0%
10 years, per year ——-1.8% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureARDTNUTXACHCSPY
Volatility, 1Y 59.6%89.4%64.3% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 74.2%88.1%64.9% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.171.780.97 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.330.740.53 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -61.2%-99.9%-86.9% -25.4%
From 52-week high -19.4%-7.1%-12.0% -1.8%
52-week high $15.14$225.00$35.61 $779.14
52-week low $7.83$87.01$11.68 $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.

MultipleARDTNUTXACHC
P/E now vs peer median 22.1xmedian 25.1x 8.0xmedian 25.1x -2.5xmedian 25.1x
P/S now vs peer median 0.3xmedian 1.6x 1.7xmedian 1.6x 0.8xmedian 1.6x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 4.9xmedian 14.5x 3.3xmedian 14.5x -5.7xmedian 14.5x
P/FCF now vs peer median 5.7xmedian 22.4x 5.2xmedian 22.4x -21.2xmedian 22.4x
P/B now vs peer median 1.0xmedian 3.1x 2.8xmedian 3.1x 1.4xmedian 3.1x
PEG now vs peer median —median 0.66 0.26median 0.66 0.03median 0.66

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 monthsARDTNUTXACHC
Revenue $6.41B $846.72M $3.37B
Gross profit – $434.03M –
Operating income – $364.27M –
Net income $125.32M $272.49M -$1.12B
Free cash flow $304.76M $274.17M -$134.03M
EPS (diluted) $0.55 $25.62 $-12.33
Cash & equivalents $724.48M $205.21M $171.29M
Total debt $1.10B $39.70M $2.41B
Shares (diluted) 143.05M 7.02M 91.37M
Enterprise value -$977.75M $662.83M $2.12B

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
MetricARDTNUTXACHC
P/E 22.1x 8.0x -2.5x
P/FCF 5.7x 5.2x -21.2x
P/Operating cash flow 3.4x 5.1x 13.5x
P/S 0.3x 1.7x 0.8x
P/B 1.0x 2.8x 1.4x
P/Tangible book 1.0x 2.9x 1.5x
EV/EBITDA 4.9x 3.3x -5.7x
EV/EBIT 8.1x 3.5x -4.6x
EV/Revenue 0.3x 1.5x 1.5x
EV/FCF 6.9x 4.6x -38.0x
EV/Operating cash flow 4.1x 4.5x 24.2x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) – 0.26 0.03

Growth

14 metrics
MetricARDTNUTXACHC
Revenue growth (1Y) 3.3% 6.9% 4.3%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) – 62.5% 6.6%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – 6.7% –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – 273.1% –
Operating income growth (1Y) – 52.9% –
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – 41.4% –
Net income growth (1Y) -61.3% 119.2% -838.8%
Net income CAGR (3Y) – 37.7% -82.3%
EPS growth (1Y) -69.6% 206.2% -900.5%
EPS CAGR (3Y) – 31.2% -83.4%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 70.3% 228.7% -50.4%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 446.8% -16.6%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 181.8% 229.4% 56.9%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 266.5% -73.4%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricARDTNUTXACHC
Gross margin – 51.3% –
EBITDA margin 6.7% 45.5% -26.6%
Operating margin – 43.0% –
Pretax margin 3.2% 40.6% -32.6%
Net margin 1.2% 21.2% -33.4%
FCF margin 4.8% 32.4% -4.0%
Operating cash flow margin 8.0% 33.0% 6.3%
Return on equity 9.7% 57.4% -57.0%
Return on assets 3.2% 28.4% -20.2%
Return on invested capital 7.4% 56.1% -24.7%
Return on capital employed 6.0% 43.2% -21.9%
Asset turnover 1.2x 0.9x 0.6x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 4.1x 1.0x -0.2x
Stock comp / revenue 0.6% 1.1% 0.9%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricARDTNUTXACHC
Debt / assets 20.9% 4.1% 43.5%
Debt / equity 0.6x 0.1x 1.2x
Net debt / EBITDA 0.9x -0.4x -2.5x
Debt / FCF 3.6x 0.1x -18.0x
Liabilities / assets 66.9% 47.4% 64.3%
Equity / assets 33.1% 52.6% 35.7%
Interest coverage 5.1x 18.4x –
Current ratio 2.1x 5.0x 1.6x
Quick ratio 1.5x 4.8x 1.2x
Cash ratio 0.7x 1.8x 0.3x
Altman Z-score 2.06 4.33 0.31

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricARDTNUTXACHC
Dividend yield – – –
Net buyback yield – -0.1% –
Shareholder yield – -0.1% –
Payout ratio (earnings) – 30.9% –
Payout ratio (FCF) – 30.7% –
Dividend growth (1Y) – 260.2% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – 140.0% –

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.

ConsensusARDTNUTXACHC
Forward P/E 13.1xFY2026 7.5xFY2026 20.0xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $0.93FY2026 $27.99FY2026 $1.57FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -3.1%FY2026 +167.1%FY2026 -21.5%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +17.2% -8.6% +22.3%
Revenue, next fiscal year $6.84BFY2026 $824.09MFY2026 $3.53BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +8.2%FY2026 -5.8%FY2026 +6.5%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +1.4% +19.4% +6.9%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersARDTNUTXACHC
Held by institutions 76.4% 42.8% 100.0%
Institutions holding 137 153 314
Change in shares held, QoQ +1.4% +5.8% +3.7%
Institutions buying 87 99 165
Institutions selling 36 36 98
Buyers to sellers 2.42 2.75 1.68

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.

ARDTNUTXACHC
ARDT 1.00 0.16 0.23
NUTX 0.16 1.00 0.18
ACHC 0.23 0.18 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ARDT, NUTX and ACHC?

Acadia Healthcare Company (ACHC) is the largest by market capitalisation: Ardent Health (ARDT) $1.68B, Nutex Health (NUTX) $1.43B, Acadia Healthcare Company (ACHC) $2.70B.

Which stock is cheaper, ARDT, NUTX and ACHC?

Nutex Health (NUTX) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Ardent Health (ARDT) 21.4x, Nutex Health (NUTX) 7.9x, Acadia Healthcare Company (ACHC) -2.4x). On next year's consensus earnings, Nutex Health (NUTX) is cheapest (Ardent Health (ARDT) 13.1x, Nutex Health (NUTX) 7.5x, Acadia Healthcare Company (ACHC) 20.0x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Nutex Health (NUTX) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Ardent Health (ARDT) +3.3%, Nutex Health (NUTX) +6.9%, Acadia Healthcare Company (ACHC) +4.3%.

Which company is more profitable?

Nutex Health (NUTX) has the highest net margin (Ardent Health (ARDT) 1.2%, Nutex Health (NUTX) 21.2%, Acadia Healthcare Company (ACHC) -33.4%). On return on invested capital, Nutex Health (NUTX) leads (Ardent Health (ARDT) 7.4%, Nutex Health (NUTX) 56.1%, Acadia Healthcare Company (ACHC) -24.7%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Nutex Health (NUTX) returned the most: Ardent Health (ARDT) -19.8%, Nutex Health (NUTX) +66.4%, Acadia Healthcare Company (ACHC) +34.0%. Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Ardent Health (ARDT) 0.00%, Nutex Health (NUTX) 0.06%, Acadia Healthcare Company (ACHC) 0.00%. Ardent Health (ARDT) and Acadia Healthcare Company (ACHC) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Ardent Health (ARDT) has been the steadiest (Ardent Health (ARDT) 59.6%, Nutex Health (NUTX) 89.4%, Acadia Healthcare Company (ACHC) 64.3%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

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 7. 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.