AVAH vs PACS vs NHC Stock Comparison

Aveanna Healthcare Holdings, Pacs and National Healthcare Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
PACS PACS Group, Inc.
$47.65 +16.1% 1M +274.0% 1Y
Market cap
$7.72B
P/E
28.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$5.55B
Div. yield
–
Home Health and Senior Care Healthcare
4 wins
NHC National Healthcare Corp
$235.53 +4.6% 1M +92.9% 1Y
Market cap
$3.50B
P/E
25.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.56B
Div. yield
0.01%
Home Health and Senior Care Healthcare
3 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Pacs leads on 4 of the 12 questions below (Pacs 4, Aveanna Healthcare Holdings 4, National Healthcare 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionAVAHPACSNHCLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $2.87B $7.72B $3.50B PACS
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 11.0x 28.7x 25.0x AVAH
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 15.7x 20.9x — AVAH
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +16.8% +15.2% +6.9% AVAH
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 10.2% 4.8% 9.0% AVAH
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 18.4% 21.8% 10.0% PACS
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 4.0x 0.2x — PACS
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.01% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +46.7% +274.0% +92.9% PACS
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +13.1%/yr — +27.0%/yr NHC
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 47.7% 81.5% 33.9% NHC
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 66/100 64/100 75/100 NHC

Percentile Scorecard

AVAHPACSNHC

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

AxisAVAHPACSNHC
Valuation 70 #29 of 93 69 #30 of 93 71 #28 of 93
Growth 84 #15 of 88 75 #23 of 88 79 #19 of 88
Profitability 91 #9 of 87 67 #29 of 87 76 #22 of 87
Financial Health 21 #79 of 100 46 #55 of 100 88 #13 of 100
Shareholder Returns – – 64 #21 of 56
Overall 66 64 75
  • AVAH ranked among 103 companies in Healthcare Providers
  • PACS ranked among 103 companies in Healthcare Providers
  • NHC ranked among 103 companies in Healthcare Providers

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodAVAHPACSNHCSPY
1 month +4.6%+16.1%+4.6% -1.0%
3 months +41.6%+1.7%+4.6% +2.9%
6 months +104.3%+34.5%+36.3% +6.4%
Year to date +63.8%+24.1%+71.8% +11.4%
1 year +46.7%+274.0%+92.9% +13.1%
3 years +1,033.9%—+257.9% +79.4%
3 years, per year +124.8%—+53.0% +21.5%
5 years +85.3%—+230.8% +67.7%
5 years, per year +13.1%—+27.0% +10.9%
10 years ——+261.2% +255.2%
10 years, per year ——+13.7% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureAVAHPACSNHCSPY
Volatility, 1Y 47.7%81.5%33.9% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 43.2%48.4%30.8% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.670.360.16 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.983.362.74 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -92.3%-82.0%-34.4% -25.4%
From 52-week high -7.0%-1.7%-4.8% -2.5%
52-week high $14.38$48.45$247.31 $779.14
52-week low $6.22$10.58$119.44 $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.

MultipleAVAHPACSNHC
P/E now vs peer median 11.2xmedian 25.3x 28.0xmedian 25.3x 26.2xmedian 25.3x
P/S now vs peer median 1.1xmedian 1.6x 1.4xmedian 1.6x 2.4xmedian 1.6x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 13.7xmedian 14.6x 15.9xmedian 14.6x 18.3xmedian 14.6x
P/FCF now vs peer median —median 22.7x 62.1xmedian 22.7x 25.2xmedian 22.7x
P/B now vs peer median 10.2xmedian 3.3x 6.8xmedian 3.3x 3.3xmedian 3.3x
PEG now vs peer median 0.25median 0.66 —median 0.66 0.42median 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 monthsAVAHPACSNHC
Revenue $2.54B $5.55B $1.56B
Gross profit $845.45M $1.30B –
Operating income $284.64M $410.32M $144.68M
Net income $260.11M $269.17M $142.84M
Free cash flow – $121.47M $146.53M
EPS (diluted) $1.16 $1.66 $8.84
Cash & equivalents $97.20M $164.45M $39.21M
Total debt $5.19B $246.09M –
Shares (diluted) 224.86M 161.99M 15.86M
Enterprise value $2.34B $6.76B $2.48B

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
MetricAVAHPACSNHC
P/E 11.2x 28.0x 26.2x
P/FCF – 62.1x 25.2x
P/Operating cash flow – 13.2x 19.5x
P/S 1.1x 1.4x 2.4x
P/B 10.2x 6.8x 3.3x
P/Tangible book 15.6x 6.8x 3.3x
EV/EBITDA 13.7x 15.9x 18.3x
EV/EBIT 14.5x 18.6x 24.0x
EV/Revenue 1.6x 1.4x 2.2x
EV/FCF – 62.8x 23.7x
EV/Operating cash flow – 13.3x 18.4x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.25 – 0.42

Growth

14 metrics
MetricAVAHPACSNHC
Revenue growth (1Y) 16.8% 15.2% 6.9%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 11.6% – 12.8%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 16.5% 33.3% –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 14.5% – –
Operating income growth (1Y) 34.5% 83.5% 24.1%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 58.3% – 57.4%
Net income growth (1Y) 1,302% 103.5% 35.9%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 47.1% – 68.9%
EPS growth (1Y) 1,212% 107.9% 31.6%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 44.2% – 61.9%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) – 20.3% 26.7%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – – 44.1%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – -58.3% 23.2%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – – 58.0%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricAVAHPACSNHC
Gross margin 33.2% 23.5% –
EBITDA margin 11.8% 8.6% 12.2%
Operating margin 11.2% 7.4% 9.3%
Pretax margin 6.0% 6.9% 11.9%
Net margin 10.2% 4.8% 9.0%
FCF margin – 2.2% 9.4%
Operating cash flow margin – 10.3% 12.1%
Return on equity 108.0% 24.9% 12.8%
Return on assets 12.6% 4.8% 9.3%
Return on invested capital 18.4% 21.8% 10.0%
Return on capital employed 17.3% 8.9% 11.2%
Asset turnover 1.2x 1.0x 1.0x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) – 2.1x 1.3x
Stock comp / revenue – 1.3% 0.3%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricAVAHPACSNHC
Debt / assets 61.6% 4.4% –
Debt / equity 4.5x 0.2x –
Net debt / EBITDA 4.0x 0.2x –
Debt / FCF – 2.0x –
Liabilities / assets 86.4% 80.3% 26.6%
Equity / assets 13.6% 19.7% 73.4%
Interest coverage 2.2x 13.9x 56.6x
Current ratio 1.2x 0.9x 1.9x
Quick ratio 1.1x 0.8x 1.5x
Cash ratio 0.2x 0.2x 0.9x
Altman Z-score 1.94 2.31 7.71

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricAVAHPACSNHC
Dividend yield – – 1.1%
Net buyback yield – – 0.1%
Shareholder yield – – 1.2%
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.

ConsensusAVAHPACSNHC
Forward P/E 15.7xFY2026 20.9xFY2026 –
EPS, next fiscal year $0.85FY2026 $2.28FY2026 –
EPS growth, next FY +41.7%FY2026 +23.9%FY2026 –
EPS growth, the year after +11.8% +25.4% –
Revenue, next fiscal year $2.76BFY2026 $6.17BFY2026 –
Revenue growth, next FY +13.4%FY2026 +16.6%FY2026 –
Revenue growth, the year after +8.7% +1.1% –

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersAVAHPACSNHC
Held by institutions 92.5% 31.3% 65.3%
Institutions holding 215 239 250
Change in shares held, QoQ +1.8% +5.8% -0.6%
Institutions buying 151 155 136
Institutions selling 52 54 72
Buyers to sellers 2.90 2.87 1.89

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.

AVAHPACSNHC
AVAH 1.00 0.11 0.20
PACS 0.11 1.00 0.14
NHC 0.20 0.14 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, AVAH, PACS and NHC?

Pacs (PACS) is the largest by market capitalisation: Aveanna Healthcare Holdings (AVAH) $2.87B, Pacs (PACS) $7.72B, National Healthcare (NHC) $3.50B.

Which stock is cheaper, AVAH, PACS and NHC?

Aveanna Healthcare Holdings (AVAH) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Aveanna Healthcare Holdings (AVAH) 11.0x, Pacs (PACS) 28.7x, National Healthcare (NHC) 25.0x). On next year's consensus earnings, Aveanna Healthcare Holdings (AVAH) is cheapest (Aveanna Healthcare Holdings (AVAH) 15.7x, Pacs (PACS) 20.9x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Aveanna Healthcare Holdings (AVAH) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Aveanna Healthcare Holdings (AVAH) +16.8%, Pacs (PACS) +15.2%, National Healthcare (NHC) +6.9%.

Which company is more profitable?

Aveanna Healthcare Holdings (AVAH) has the highest net margin (Aveanna Healthcare Holdings (AVAH) 10.2%, Pacs (PACS) 4.8%, National Healthcare (NHC) 9.0%). On return on invested capital, Pacs (PACS) leads (Aveanna Healthcare Holdings (AVAH) 18.4%, Pacs (PACS) 21.8%, National Healthcare (NHC) 10.0%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Pacs (PACS) returned the most: Aveanna Healthcare Holdings (AVAH) +46.7%, Pacs (PACS) +274.0%, National Healthcare (NHC) +92.9%. Over five years, National Healthcare (NHC) compounded fastest (Aveanna Healthcare Holdings (AVAH) +13.1%/yr, National Healthcare (NHC) +27.0%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Aveanna Healthcare Holdings (AVAH) 0.00%, Pacs (PACS) 0.00%, National Healthcare (NHC) 0.01%. Aveanna Healthcare Holdings (AVAH) and Pacs (PACS) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, National Healthcare (NHC) has been the steadiest (Aveanna Healthcare Holdings (AVAH) 47.7%, Pacs (PACS) 81.5%, National Healthcare (NHC) 33.9%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, AVAH, PACS and NHC?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Pacs (PACS) leads on 4. 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.