EHC vs UHS vs NHC Stock Comparison

Encompass Health, Universal Health Services and National Healthcare Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
EHC Encompass Health Corp
$124.19 +1.6% 1M -1.8% 1Y
Market cap
$12.25B
P/E
19.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$6.21B
Div. yield
0.01%
Hospitals Healthcare
5 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
4 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Encompass Health leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Encompass Health 5, National Healthcare 4, Universal Health Services 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionEHCUHSNHCLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $12.25B $11.07B $3.50B EHC
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 19.7x 7.3x 25.0x UHS
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 20.9x 8.1x — UHS
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +9.5% +10.0% +6.9% UHS
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 10.0% 8.4% 9.0% EHC
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 15.4% 12.8% 10.0% EHC
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 1.7x 1.7x — EHC
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.01% 0.00% 0.01% NHC
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -1.8% -10.3% +92.9% NHC
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +12.0%/yr +6.6%/yr +27.0%/yr NHC
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 29.4% 32.9% 33.9% EHC
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 64/100 66/100 75/100 NHC

Percentile Scorecard

EHCUHSNHC

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

AxisEHCUHSNHC
Valuation 77 #22 of 93 98 #3 of 93 71 #28 of 93
Growth 55 #40 of 88 52 #43 of 88 79 #19 of 88
Profitability 90 #10 of 87 78 #20 of 87 76 #22 of 87
Financial Health 39 #61 of 100 42 #58 of 100 88 #13 of 100
Shareholder Returns 58 #24 of 56 62 #22 of 56 64 #21 of 56
Overall 64 66 75
  • EHC ranked among 103 companies in Healthcare Providers
  • UHS 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

PeriodEHCUHSNHCSPY
1 month +1.6%+3.1%+4.6% -1.0%
3 months +10.0%+20.0%+4.6% +2.9%
6 months +21.8%+7.3%+36.3% +6.4%
Year to date +17.0%-14.2%+71.8% +11.4%
1 year -1.8%-10.3%+92.9% +13.1%
3 years +98.7%+50.2%+257.9% +79.4%
3 years, per year +25.7%+14.5%+53.0% +21.5%
5 years +75.8%+37.9%+230.8% +67.7%
5 years, per year +12.0%+6.6%+27.0% +10.9%
10 years +210.6%+51.4%+261.2% +255.2%
10 years, per year +12.0%+4.2%+13.7% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureEHCUHSNHCSPY
Volatility, 1Y 29.4%32.9%33.9% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 24.8%34.8%30.8% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.040.130.16 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.06-0.312.74 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -39.1%-43.5%-34.4% -25.4%
From 52-week high -2.9%-23.4%-4.8% -2.5%
52-week high $127.92$244.18$247.31 $779.14
52-week low $93.83$141.17$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.

MultipleEHCUHSNHC
P/E now vs peer median 19.8xmedian 25.3x 7.3xmedian 25.3x 26.2xmedian 25.3x
P/S now vs peer median 2.0xmedian 1.6x 0.5xmedian 1.6x 2.4xmedian 1.6x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 9.9xmedian 14.6x 5.3xmedian 14.6x 18.3xmedian 14.6x
P/FCF now vs peer median 29.6xmedian 22.7x 11.4xmedian 22.7x 25.2xmedian 22.7x
P/B now vs peer median 3.6xmedian 3.3x 1.3xmedian 3.3x 3.3xmedian 3.3x
PEG now vs peer median 0.76median 0.66 0.19median 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 monthsEHCUHSNHC
Revenue $6.21B $18.11B $1.56B
Operating income – $2.06B $144.68M
Net income $833.30M $1.55B $142.84M
Free cash flow $413.40M $845.40M $146.53M
EPS (diluted) $6.21 $25.47 $8.84
Cash & equivalents $107.70M $138.80M $39.21M
Total debt $2.63B $4.85B –
Shares (diluted) 100.00M 59.91M 15.86M
Enterprise value $11.91B $10.56B $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
MetricEHCUHSNHC
P/E 19.8x 7.3x 26.2x
P/FCF 29.6x 11.4x 25.2x
P/Operating cash flow 10.1x 5.4x 19.5x
P/S 2.0x 0.5x 2.4x
P/B 3.6x 1.3x 3.3x
P/Tangible book 4.0x 1.3x 3.3x
EV/EBITDA 9.9x 5.3x 18.3x
EV/EBIT 12.8x 7.0x 24.0x
EV/Revenue 2.4x 0.8x 2.2x
EV/FCF 35.7x 17.0x 23.7x
EV/Operating cash flow 12.2x 8.0x 18.4x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.76 0.19 0.42

Growth

14 metrics
MetricEHCUHSNHC
Revenue growth (1Y) 9.5% 10.0% 6.9%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 10.7% 9.5% 12.8%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – – –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – – –
Operating income growth (1Y) – 13.6% 24.1%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – 23.4% 57.4%
Net income growth (1Y) 20.3% 20.4% 35.9%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 26.2% 31.7% 68.9%
EPS growth (1Y) 21.5% 31.3% 31.6%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 26.0% 37.7% 61.9%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 9.7% -5.3% 26.7%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 21.4% 15.4% 44.1%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -5.9% -6.2% 23.2%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 62.3% 18.4% 58.0%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricEHCUHSNHC
Gross margin – – –
EBITDA margin 24.2% 14.9% 12.2%
Operating margin – 11.4% 9.3%
Pretax margin 16.6% 11.2% 11.9%
Net margin 10.0% 8.4% 9.0%
FCF margin 6.7% 4.7% 9.4%
Operating cash flow margin 19.5% 9.9% 12.1%
Return on equity 24.8% 20.5% 12.8%
Return on assets 11.3% 9.8% 9.3%
Return on invested capital 15.4% 12.8% 10.0%
Return on capital employed 17.7% 16.5% 11.2%
Asset turnover 0.8x 1.1x 1.0x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.5x 1.2x 1.3x
Stock comp / revenue 0.9% 0.5% 0.3%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricEHCUHSNHC
Debt / assets 35.3% 30.4% –
Debt / equity 0.8x 0.6x –
Net debt / EBITDA 1.7x 1.7x –
Debt / FCF 6.4x 5.7x –
Liabilities / assets 54.4% 52.4% 26.6%
Equity / assets 45.6% 47.6% 73.4%
Interest coverage 9.2x 13.1x 56.6x
Current ratio 1.2x 1.1x 1.9x
Quick ratio 0.9x 0.9x 1.5x
Cash ratio 0.1x 0.0x 0.9x
Altman Z-score – – 7.71

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricEHCUHSNHC
Dividend yield 0.6% 0.4% 1.1%
Net buyback yield 2.0% 10.9% 0.1%
Shareholder yield 2.6% 11.4% 1.2%
Payout ratio (earnings) 9.0% 3.2% 27.8%
Payout ratio (FCF) 18.2% 5.9% 27.1%
Dividend growth (1Y) 12.1% -6.0% 5.6%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 0.9% -4.6% 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.

ConsensusEHCUHSNHC
Forward P/E 20.9xFY2026 8.1xFY2026 –
EPS, next fiscal year $5.94FY2026 $23.19FY2026 –
EPS growth, next FY +9.0%FY2026 +6.7%FY2026 –
EPS growth, the year after +7.1% +8.3% –
Revenue, next fiscal year $6.62BFY2026 $18.14BFY2026 –
Revenue growth, next FY +11.5%FY2026 +4.5%FY2026 –
Revenue growth, the year after +9.2% +10.1% –

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersEHCUHSNHC
Held by institutions 96.0% 100.0% 65.3%
Institutions holding 595 597 250
Change in shares held, QoQ -0.8% +1.2% -0.6%
Institutions buying 292 289 136
Institutions selling 217 235 72
Buyers to sellers 1.35 1.23 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.

EHCUHSNHC
EHC 1.00 0.35 0.26
UHS 0.35 1.00 0.34
NHC 0.26 0.34 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, EHC, UHS and NHC?

Encompass Health (EHC) is the largest by market capitalisation: Encompass Health (EHC) $12.25B, Universal Health Services (UHS) $11.07B, National Healthcare (NHC) $3.50B.

Which stock is cheaper, EHC, UHS and NHC?

Universal Health Services (UHS) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Encompass Health (EHC) 19.7x, Universal Health Services (UHS) 7.3x, National Healthcare (NHC) 25.0x). On next year's consensus earnings, Universal Health Services (UHS) is cheapest (Encompass Health (EHC) 20.9x, Universal Health Services (UHS) 8.1x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Universal Health Services (UHS) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Encompass Health (EHC) +9.5%, Universal Health Services (UHS) +10.0%, National Healthcare (NHC) +6.9%.

Which company is more profitable?

Encompass Health (EHC) has the highest net margin (Encompass Health (EHC) 10.0%, Universal Health Services (UHS) 8.4%, National Healthcare (NHC) 9.0%). On return on invested capital, Encompass Health (EHC) leads (Encompass Health (EHC) 15.4%, Universal Health Services (UHS) 12.8%, National Healthcare (NHC) 10.0%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year National Healthcare (NHC) returned the most: Encompass Health (EHC) -1.8%, Universal Health Services (UHS) -10.3%, National Healthcare (NHC) +92.9%. Over five years, National Healthcare (NHC) compounded fastest (Encompass Health (EHC) +12.0%/yr, Universal Health Services (UHS) +6.6%/yr, National Healthcare (NHC) +27.0%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

National Healthcare (NHC) has the highest dividend yield: Encompass Health (EHC) 0.01%, Universal Health Services (UHS) 0.00%, National Healthcare (NHC) 0.01%.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Encompass Health (EHC) has been the steadiest (Encompass Health (EHC) 29.4%, Universal Health Services (UHS) 32.9%, National Healthcare (NHC) 33.9%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, EHC, UHS 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, Encompass Health (EHC) 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.