AUNA vs NHC vs ARDT Stock Comparison

Auna, National Healthcare and Ardent Health Prices as of Oct 28, 2026 Peers: Industry group
AUNA Auna S.A.
$4.74 -5.6% 1M -22.4% 1Y
Market cap
$356.22M
P/E
12.7x
Revenue (TTM)
—
Div. yield
–
Hospitals Healthcare
2 wins
NHC National Healthcare Corp
$211.34 -6.6% 1M +73.2% 1Y
Market cap
$3.37B
P/E
24.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.56B
Div. yield
0.01%
Home Health and Senior Care Healthcare
7 wins
ARDT Ardent Health, Inc.
$11.94 +14.3% 1M -20.9% 1Y
Market cap
$1.74B
P/E
22.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$6.41B
Div. yield
–
Hospitals Healthcare

Head to Head

9 decided of 12

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

QuestionAUNANHCARDTLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $356.22M $3.37B $1.74B NHC
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 12.7x 24.0x 22.3x AUNA
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 5.9x — 12.8x AUNA
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months — +6.9% +3.3% NHC
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months — 9.0% 1.2% NHC
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 10.0% 7.4% NHC
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — — 0.9x –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.01% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -22.4% +73.2% -20.9% NHC
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years — +24.8%/yr — –
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 44.1% 34.7% 59.6% NHC
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers — 79/100 68/100 NHC

Percentile Scorecard

AUNANHCARDT

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

AxisAUNANHCARDT
Valuation 98 #3 of 92 77 #22 of 92 99 #2 of 92
Growth – 80 #18 of 87 45 #48 of 87
Profitability – 81 #17 of 86 72 #25 of 86
Financial Health 17 #81 of 97 88 #13 of 97 54 #45 of 97
Shareholder Returns – 67 #19 of 55 –
Overall – 79 68
  • AUNA ranked among 102 companies in Healthcare Providers
  • NHC 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

PeriodAUNANHCARDTSPY
1 month -5.6%-6.6%+14.3% +0.9%
3 months -8.8%-7.7%+9.2% +5.9%
6 months -7.2%+20.7%+24.0% +8.5%
Year to date -3.7%+54.2%+35.2% +13.3%
1 year -22.4%+73.2%-20.9% +12.4%
3 years —+219.7%— +88.1%
3 years, per year —+47.4%— +23.5%
5 years —+202.2%— +68.2%
5 years, per year —+24.8%— +11.0%
10 years —+226.5%— +263.4%
10 years, per year —+12.6%— +13.8%

Risk

MeasureAUNANHCARDTSPY
Volatility, 1Y 44.1%34.7%59.6% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 43.2%32.2%74.3% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.850.131.16 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.512.11-0.35 0.98
Max drawdown, 5Y -61.1%-34.4%-61.2% -25.4%
From 52-week high -22.4%-14.5%-20.9% -0.9%
52-week high $6.11$247.31$15.09 $779.14
52-week low $4.15$119.44$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.

MultipleAUNANHCARDT
P/E now vs peer median 12.7xmedian 25.6x 23.5xmedian 25.6x 21.6xmedian 25.6x
P/S now vs peer median 0.3xmedian 1.6x 2.1xmedian 1.6x 0.3xmedian 1.6x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 16.3x 16.3xmedian 16.3x 4.9xmedian 16.3x
P/FCF now vs peer median 2.2xmedian 21.3x 22.6xmedian 21.3x 5.6xmedian 21.3x
P/B now vs peer median 0.7xmedian 3.3x 2.9xmedian 3.3x 1.0xmedian 3.3x
PEG now vs peer median —median 0.68 0.38median 0.68 —median 0.68

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 monthsAUNANHCARDT
Revenue – $1.56B $6.41B
Operating income – $144.68M –
Net income – $142.84M $125.32M
Free cash flow – $146.53M $304.76M
EPS (diluted) – $8.84 $0.55
Cash & equivalents $99.77M $39.21M $724.48M
Total debt $1.05B – $1.10B
Shares (diluted) 74.20M 15.86M 143.05M
Enterprise value $99.91M $2.35B -$911.86M

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
MetricAUNANHCARDT
P/E 12.7x 23.5x 21.6x
P/FCF 2.2x 22.6x 5.6x
P/Operating cash flow – 17.5x 3.3x
P/S 0.3x 2.1x 0.3x
P/B 0.7x 2.9x 1.0x
P/Tangible book 0.7x 3.0x 1.0x
EV/EBITDA – 16.3x 4.9x
EV/EBIT – 21.4x 8.0x
EV/Revenue – 2.0x 0.3x
EV/FCF – 21.2x 6.8x
EV/Operating cash flow – 16.4x 4.0x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) – 0.38 –

Growth

14 metrics
MetricAUNANHCARDT
Revenue growth (1Y) – 6.9% 3.3%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) – 12.8% –
Gross profit growth (1Y) – – –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – – –
Operating income growth (1Y) – 24.1% –
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – 57.4% –
Net income growth (1Y) – 35.9% -61.3%
Net income CAGR (3Y) – 68.9% –
EPS growth (1Y) – 31.6% -69.6%
EPS CAGR (3Y) – 61.9% –
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) – 26.7% 70.3%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 44.1% –
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – 23.2% 181.8%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 58.0% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricAUNANHCARDT
Gross margin – – –
EBITDA margin – 12.2% 6.7%
Operating margin – 9.3% –
Pretax margin – 11.9% 3.2%
Net margin – 9.0% 1.2%
FCF margin – 9.4% 4.8%
Operating cash flow margin – 12.1% 8.0%
Return on equity – 12.8% 9.7%
Return on assets – 9.3% 3.2%
Return on invested capital – 10.0% 7.4%
Return on capital employed – 11.2% 6.0%
Asset turnover – 1.0x 1.2x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) – 1.3x 4.1x
Stock comp / revenue – 0.3% 0.6%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricAUNANHCARDT
Debt / assets 48.4% – 20.9%
Debt / equity 2.2x – 0.6x
Net debt / EBITDA – – 0.9x
Debt / FCF – – 3.6x
Liabilities / assets 78.1% 26.6% 66.9%
Equity / assets 21.9% 73.4% 33.1%
Interest coverage – 56.6x 5.1x
Current ratio 1.1x 1.9x 2.1x
Quick ratio 0.9x 1.5x 1.5x
Cash ratio 0.2x 0.9x 0.7x
Altman Z-score – 7.15 2.06

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricAUNANHCARDT
Dividend yield – 1.2% –
Net buyback yield – 0.1% –
Shareholder yield – 1.4% –
Payout ratio (earnings) – 27.8% –
Payout ratio (FCF) – 27.1% –
Dividend growth (1Y) – 5.6% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – 4.3% –

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.

ConsensusAUNANHCARDT
Forward P/E 5.9xFY2026 – 12.8xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $0.80FY2026 – $0.93FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -38.5%FY2026 – -3.1%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +21.2% – +17.2%
Revenue, next fiscal year $1.48BFY2026 – $6.84BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +14.1%FY2026 – +8.2%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +7.1% – +1.4%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersAUNANHCARDT
Held by institutions 8.1% 65.3% 76.4%
Institutions holding 51 250 137
Change in shares held, QoQ -14.2% -0.6% +1.4%
Institutions buying 28 136 87
Institutions selling 14 72 36
Buyers to sellers 2.00 1.89 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.

AUNANHCARDT
AUNA 1.00 0.08 0.25
NHC 0.08 1.00 0.22
ARDT 0.25 0.22 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, AUNA, NHC and ARDT?

National Healthcare (NHC) is the largest by market capitalisation: Auna (AUNA) $356.22M, National Healthcare (NHC) $3.37B, Ardent Health (ARDT) $1.74B.

Which stock is cheaper, AUNA, NHC and ARDT?

Auna (AUNA) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Auna (AUNA) 12.7x, National Healthcare (NHC) 24.0x, Ardent Health (ARDT) 22.3x). On next year's consensus earnings, Auna (AUNA) is cheapest (Auna (AUNA) 5.9x, Ardent Health (ARDT) 12.8x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

National Healthcare (NHC) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: National Healthcare (NHC) +6.9%, Ardent Health (ARDT) +3.3%.

Which company is more profitable?

National Healthcare (NHC) has the highest net margin (National Healthcare (NHC) 9.0%, Ardent Health (ARDT) 1.2%). On return on invested capital, National Healthcare (NHC) leads (National Healthcare (NHC) 10.0%, Ardent Health (ARDT) 7.4%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year National Healthcare (NHC) returned the most: Auna (AUNA) -22.4%, National Healthcare (NHC) +73.2%, Ardent Health (ARDT) -20.9%. Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Auna (AUNA) 0.00%, National Healthcare (NHC) 0.01%, Ardent Health (ARDT) 0.00%. Auna (AUNA) and Ardent Health (ARDT) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, National Healthcare (NHC) has been the steadiest (Auna (AUNA) 44.1%, National Healthcare (NHC) 34.7%, Ardent Health (ARDT) 59.6%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, AUNA, NHC 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, National Healthcare (NHC) 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.