HCA vs EHC vs SGRY Stock Comparison

HCA Healthcare, Encompass Health and Surgery Partners Prices as of Oct 29, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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HCA HCA Healthcare, Inc.
$478.21 +10.8% 1M +2.1% 1Y
Market cap
$100.85B
P/E
15.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$78.70B
Div. yield
0.64%
Hospitals Healthcare
7 wins
EHC Encompass Health Corp
$131.59 +6.5% 1M +4.7% 1Y
Market cap
$12.98B
P/E
20.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$6.34B
Div. yield
0.59%
Hospitals Healthcare
5 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

HCA Healthcare leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (HCA Healthcare 7, Encompass Health 5). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionHCAEHCSGRYLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $100.85B $12.98B $3.04B HCA
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 15.1x 20.2x -33.7x HCA
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 15.8x 22.2x 58.0x HCA
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +5.8% +9.4% +4.0% EHC
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 8.6% — -2.6% HCA
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 21.8% — 5.3% HCA
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 3.1x — 6.3x HCA
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.64% 0.59% — HCA
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +2.1% +4.7% +2.0% EHC
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +13.8%/yr +15.7%/yr -10.8%/yr EHC
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 31.4% 30.4% 66.8% EHC
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 59/100 61/100 56/100 EHC

Percentile Scorecard

HCAEHCSGRY

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

AxisHCAEHCSGRY
Valuation 89 #11 of 92 71 #27 of 92 86 #14 of 92
Growth 24 #66 of 87 54 #41 of 87 42 #51 of 87
Profitability 95 #5 of 86 80 #18 of 86 67 #29 of 86
Financial Health 15 #83 of 97 42 #57 of 97 30 #68 of 97
Shareholder Returns 74 #15 of 55 57 #24 of 55 –
Overall 59 61 56
  • HCA ranked among 102 companies in Healthcare Providers
  • EHC ranked among 102 companies in Healthcare Providers
  • SGRY ranked among 102 companies in Healthcare Providers

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodHCAEHCSGRYSPY
1 month +10.8%+6.5%+61.1% +0.7%
3 months +20.8%+18.7%+46.0% +3.7%
6 months +10.1%+31.6%+65.4% +7.1%
Year to date +2.4%+24.0%+50.2% +12.8%
1 year +2.1%+4.7%+2.0% +11.9%
3 years +114.1%+117.0%+4.0% +85.2%
3 years, per year +28.9%+29.5%+1.3% +22.8%
5 years +90.9%+107.0%-43.6% +67.6%
5 years, per year +13.8%+15.7%-10.8% +10.9%
10 years +518.6%+231.7%+42.7% +262.0%
10 years, per year +20.0%+12.7%+3.6% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureHCAEHCSGRYSPY
Volatility, 1Y 31.4%30.4%66.8% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 30.8%25.1%65.2% 12.6%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.110.010.82 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.070.160.03 0.94
Max drawdown, 5Y -39.7%-39.1%-81.4% -25.4%
From 52-week high -12.3%0.0%-0.6% -1.2%
52-week high $545.13$131.59$23.36 $779.14
52-week low $361.32$93.83$11.49 $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.

MultipleHCAEHCSGRY
P/E now vs peer median 15.1xmedian 26.0x 20.2xmedian 26.0x -33.7xmedian 26.0x
P/S now vs peer median 1.3xmedian 1.6x 2.0xmedian 1.6x 0.9xmedian 1.6x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 9.4xmedian 15.4x —median 15.4x 11.7xmedian 15.4x
P/FCF now vs peer median 16.9xmedian 21.5x 29.5xmedian 21.5x 16.2xmedian 21.5x
P/B now vs peer median -12.5xmedian 3.2x 3.7xmedian 3.2x 1.0xmedian 3.2x
PEG now vs peer median 1.04median 0.87 0.89median 0.87 1.96median 0.87

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 monthsHCAEHCSGRY
Revenue $78.70B $6.34B $3.37B
Operating income – – $383.80M
Net income $7.80B $862.30M $48.10M
Free cash flow $5.97B – $187.60M
EPS (diluted) $31.20 $6.44 $-0.69
Cash & equivalents $908.00M $76.20M $216.70M
Total debt $50.49B – $3.75B
Shares (diluted) 217.21M 100.00M 128.83M
Enterprise value $100.42B $13.80B $3.63B

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
MetricHCAEHCSGRY
P/E 15.1x 20.2x -33.7x
P/FCF 16.9x 29.5x 16.2x
P/Operating cash flow 9.0x 10.0x 11.8x
P/S 1.3x 2.0x 0.9x
P/B -12.5x 3.7x 1.0x
P/Tangible book -12.5x 4.1x 1.0x
EV/EBITDA 9.4x – 11.7x
EV/EBIT 12.3x – 17.1x
EV/Revenue 1.9x 2.0x 2.0x
EV/FCF 25.2x – 35.0x
EV/Operating cash flow 13.5x 10.0x 25.5x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.04 0.89 1.96

Growth

14 metrics
MetricHCAEHCSGRY
Revenue growth (1Y) 5.8% 9.4% 4.0%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 7.6% 10.5% 8.1%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – – –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – – –
Operating income growth (1Y) – – 6.1%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – – 7.1%
Net income growth (1Y) 6.8% 19.7% 136.2%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 4.3% 23.2% 15.6%
EPS growth (1Y) 16.1% 21.9% 51.6%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 14.6% 22.7% -17.2%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -13.0% 17.6% -2.2%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 6.4% 16.6% 16.4%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -26.2% – 7.0%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 10.9% – 36.7%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricHCAEHCSGRY
Gross margin – – –
EBITDA margin 20.3% – 16.7%
Operating margin – – 11.4%
Pretax margin 12.5% – 11.4%
Net margin 8.6% – -2.6%
FCF margin 7.6% – 5.6%
Operating cash flow margin 14.2% 20.6% 7.7%
Return on equity – 25.0% 2.6%
Return on assets 12.3% 11.5% 1.0%
Return on invested capital 21.8% – 5.3%
Return on capital employed 28.0% – 5.1%
Asset turnover 1.2x 0.8x 0.4x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.4x 1.5x 5.4x
Stock comp / revenue 0.5% 0.9% 0.3%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricHCAEHCSGRY
Debt / assets 79.6% – 46.6%
Debt / equity -6.3x – 1.2x
Net debt / EBITDA 3.1x – 6.3x
Debt / FCF 8.5x – 20.0x
Liabilities / assets 112.7% 52.9% 61.5%
Equity / assets -12.7% 46.3% 38.5%
Interest coverage 5.2x – –
Current ratio 0.8x 1.1x 1.9x
Quick ratio 0.6x – 1.4x
Cash ratio 0.0x – 0.4x
Altman Z-score 2.48 – 0.87

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricHCAEHCSGRY
Dividend yield 0.6% 0.6% –
Net buyback yield 9.1% – –
Shareholder yield 9.7% 0.6% –
Payout ratio (earnings) – 8.9% –
Payout ratio (FCF) – – –
Dividend growth (1Y) – 11.3% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – 8.4% –

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.

ConsensusHCAEHCSGRY
Forward P/E 15.8xFY2026 22.2xFY2026 58.0xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $30.21FY2026 $5.94FY2026 $0.40FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +7.1%FY2026 +9.0%FY2026 -14.9%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +11.0% +7.1% -5.0%
Revenue, next fiscal year $73.03BFY2026 $6.62BFY2026 $3.38BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY -3.4%FY2026 +11.5%FY2026 +2.2%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +18.8% +9.2% -2.9%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersHCAEHCSGRY
Held by institutions 59.5% 96.0% 100.0%
Institutions holding 1,335 596 190
Change in shares held, QoQ +0.3% -0.8% -0.8%
Institutions buying 569 292 112
Institutions selling 563 217 50
Buyers to sellers 1.01 1.35 2.24

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.

HCAEHCSGRY
HCA 1.00 0.31 0.25
EHC 0.31 1.00 0.10
SGRY 0.25 0.10 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, HCA, EHC and SGRY?

HCA Healthcare (HCA) is the largest by market capitalisation: HCA Healthcare (HCA) $100.85B, Encompass Health (EHC) $12.98B, Surgery Partners (SGRY) $3.04B.

Which stock is cheaper, HCA, EHC and SGRY?

HCA Healthcare (HCA) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (HCA Healthcare (HCA) 15.1x, Encompass Health (EHC) 20.2x, Surgery Partners (SGRY) -33.7x). On next year's consensus earnings, HCA Healthcare (HCA) is cheapest (HCA Healthcare (HCA) 15.8x, Encompass Health (EHC) 22.2x, Surgery Partners (SGRY) 58.0x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Encompass Health (EHC) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: HCA Healthcare (HCA) +5.8%, Encompass Health (EHC) +9.4%, Surgery Partners (SGRY) +4.0%.

Which company is more profitable?

HCA Healthcare (HCA) has the highest net margin (HCA Healthcare (HCA) 8.6%, Surgery Partners (SGRY) -2.6%). On return on invested capital, HCA Healthcare (HCA) leads (HCA Healthcare (HCA) 21.8%, Surgery Partners (SGRY) 5.3%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Encompass Health (EHC) returned the most: HCA Healthcare (HCA) +2.1%, Encompass Health (EHC) +4.7%, Surgery Partners (SGRY) +2.0%. Over five years, Encompass Health (EHC) compounded fastest (HCA Healthcare (HCA) +13.8%/yr, Encompass Health (EHC) +15.7%/yr, Surgery Partners (SGRY) -10.8%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

HCA Healthcare (HCA) has the highest dividend yield: HCA Healthcare (HCA) 0.64%, Encompass Health (EHC) 0.59%. Surgery Partners (SGRY) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Encompass Health (EHC) has been the steadiest (HCA Healthcare (HCA) 31.4%, Encompass Health (EHC) 30.4%, Surgery Partners (SGRY) 66.8%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, HCA, EHC and SGRY?

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