HCA vs NUTX vs EHC Stock Comparison

HCA Healthcare, Nutex Health and Encompass Health Prices as of Oct 28, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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HCA HCA Healthcare, Inc.
$463.52 +7.1% 1M -0.6% 1Y
Market cap
$101.03B
P/E
15.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$78.70B
Div. yield
0.66%
Hospitals Healthcare
2 wins
NUTX Nutex Health Inc.
$212.63 -0.1% 1M +65.2% 1Y
Market cap
$1.46B
P/E
8.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$846.72M
Div. yield
–
Hospitals Healthcare
4 wins
EHC Encompass Health Corp
$122.08 -1.6% 1M -3.3% 1Y
Market cap
$12.04B
P/E
18.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$6.34B
Div. yield
0.64%
Hospitals Healthcare
3 wins

Head to Head

9 decided of 12

Nutex Health leads on 4 of the 12 questions below (Nutex Health 4, Encompass Health 3, HCA Healthcare 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionHCANUTXEHCLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $101.03B $1.46B $12.04B HCA
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 15.1x 8.1x 18.7x NUTX
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 15.3x 7.6x 20.6x NUTX
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +5.8% +6.9% +9.4% EHC
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months — 21.2% — –
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 56.1% — –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — -0.4x — –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.66% — 0.64% HCA
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -0.6% +65.2% -3.3% NUTX
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +13.1%/yr — +14.0%/yr EHC
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 31.2% 89.2% 29.5% EHC
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 61/100 82/100 61/100 NUTX

Percentile Scorecard

HCANUTXEHC

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

AxisHCANUTXEHC
Valuation 86 #14 of 92 92 #8 of 92 73 #26 of 92
Growth 24 #66 of 87 91 #9 of 87 52 #42 of 87
Profitability 74 #23 of 86 99 #2 of 86 84 #15 of 86
Financial Health – 89 #12 of 97 41 #58 of 97
Shareholder Returns 59 #23 of 55 39 #34 of 55 54 #26 of 55
Overall 61 82 61
  • HCA ranked among 102 companies in Healthcare Providers
  • NUTX ranked among 102 companies in Healthcare Providers
  • EHC ranked among 102 companies in Healthcare Providers

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodHCANUTXEHCSPY
1 month +7.1%-0.1%-1.6% +0.9%
3 months +13.5%+51.3%+7.3% +5.9%
6 months +6.6%+89.8%+19.0% +8.5%
Year to date -0.7%+29.2%+15.0% +13.3%
1 year -0.6%+65.2%-3.3% +12.4%
3 years +105.7%+678.9%+100.6% +88.1%
3 years, per year +27.2%+98.3%+26.1% +23.5%
5 years +85.1%—+92.1% +68.2%
5 years, per year +13.1%—+14.0% +11.0%
10 years +499.6%—+207.7% +263.4%
10 years, per year +19.6%—+11.9% +13.8%

Risk

MeasureHCANUTXEHCSPY
Volatility, 1Y 31.2%89.2%29.5% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 30.8%88.1%25.0% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.121.780.03 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.020.73-0.11 0.98
Max drawdown, 5Y -39.7%-99.9%-39.1% -25.4%
From 52-week high -15.0%-5.5%-4.6% -0.9%
52-week high $545.13$225.00$127.92 $779.14
52-week low $361.32$87.01$93.83 $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.

MultipleHCANUTXEHC
P/E now vs peer median 15.1xmedian 25.6x 8.1xmedian 25.6x 18.7xmedian 25.6x
P/S now vs peer median 1.3xmedian 1.6x 1.7xmedian 1.6x 1.9xmedian 1.6x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 16.3x 3.3xmedian 16.3x —median 16.3x
P/FCF now vs peer median 15.7xmedian 21.3x 5.3xmedian 21.3x 29.5xmedian 21.3x
P/B now vs peer median -12.5xmedian 3.3x 2.9xmedian 3.3x 3.4xmedian 3.3x
PEG now vs peer median 1.11median 0.68 0.26median 0.68 0.82median 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 monthsHCANUTXEHC
Revenue $78.70B $846.72M $6.34B
Gross profit – $434.03M –
Operating income – $364.27M –
Net income $7.80B $272.49M $862.30M
Free cash flow – $274.17M –
EPS (diluted) $30.41 $25.62 $6.44
Cash & equivalents $908.00M $205.21M $76.20M
Total debt – $39.70M –
Shares (diluted) 222.83M 7.02M 100.00M
Enterprise value $104.51B $804.01M $12.87B

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
MetricHCANUTXEHC
P/E 15.1x 8.1x 18.7x
P/FCF 15.7x 5.3x 29.5x
P/Operating cash flow 9.0x 5.2x 9.2x
P/S 1.3x 1.7x 1.9x
P/B -12.5x 2.9x 3.4x
P/Tangible book -12.5x 3.0x 3.8x
EV/EBITDA – 3.3x –
EV/EBIT – 3.5x –
EV/Revenue 1.3x 1.5x 1.9x
EV/FCF – 4.7x –
EV/Operating cash flow 9.0x 4.6x 9.2x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.11 0.26 0.82

Growth

14 metrics
MetricHCANUTXEHC
Revenue growth (1Y) 5.8% 6.9% 9.4%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 7.6% 62.5% 10.5%
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) 6.8% 119.2% 19.7%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 4.3% 37.7% 23.2%
EPS growth (1Y) 13.2% 206.2% 21.9%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 13.6% 31.2% 22.7%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -13.0% 228.7% 17.6%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 6.4% 446.8% 16.6%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – 229.4% –
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 266.5% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricHCANUTXEHC
Gross margin – 51.3% –
EBITDA margin – 45.5% –
Operating margin – 43.0% –
Pretax margin – 40.6% –
Net margin – 21.2% –
FCF margin – 32.4% –
Operating cash flow margin 14.2% 33.0% 20.6%
Return on equity – 57.4% 25.0%
Return on assets – 28.4% 11.5%
Return on invested capital – 56.1% –
Return on capital employed – 43.2% –
Asset turnover – 0.9x 0.8x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.4x 1.0x 1.5x
Stock comp / revenue 0.5% 1.1% 0.9%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricHCANUTXEHC
Debt / assets – 4.1% –
Debt / equity – 0.1x –
Net debt / EBITDA – -0.4x –
Debt / FCF – 0.1x –
Liabilities / assets – 47.4% 52.9%
Equity / assets – 52.6% 46.3%
Interest coverage – 18.4x –
Current ratio – 5.0x 1.1x
Quick ratio – 4.8x –
Cash ratio – 1.8x –
Altman Z-score – 4.36 –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricHCANUTXEHC
Dividend yield 0.7% – 0.6%
Net buyback yield – -0.1% –
Shareholder yield 0.7% -0.1% 0.6%
Payout ratio (earnings) – 30.9% 8.9%
Payout ratio (FCF) – 30.7% –
Dividend growth (1Y) – 260.2% 11.3%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – 140.0% 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.

ConsensusHCANUTXEHC
Forward P/E 15.3xFY2026 7.6xFY2026 20.6xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $30.21FY2026 $27.99FY2026 $5.94FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +7.1%FY2026 +167.1%FY2026 +9.0%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +11.0% -8.6% +7.1%
Revenue, next fiscal year $73.03BFY2026 $824.09MFY2026 $6.62BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY -3.4%FY2026 -5.8%FY2026 +11.5%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +18.8% +19.4% +9.2%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersHCANUTXEHC
Held by institutions 59.5% 42.8% 96.0%
Institutions holding 1,334 153 595
Change in shares held, QoQ +0.3% +5.8% -0.8%
Institutions buying 568 99 292
Institutions selling 563 36 217
Buyers to sellers 1.01 2.75 1.35

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.

HCANUTXEHC
HCA 1.00 0.01 0.29
NUTX 0.01 1.00 0.07
EHC 0.29 0.07 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, HCA, NUTX and EHC?

HCA Healthcare (HCA) is the largest by market capitalisation: HCA Healthcare (HCA) $101.03B, Nutex Health (NUTX) $1.46B, Encompass Health (EHC) $12.04B.

Which stock is cheaper, HCA, NUTX and EHC?

Nutex Health (NUTX) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (HCA Healthcare (HCA) 15.1x, Nutex Health (NUTX) 8.1x, Encompass Health (EHC) 18.7x). On next year's consensus earnings, Nutex Health (NUTX) is cheapest (HCA Healthcare (HCA) 15.3x, Nutex Health (NUTX) 7.6x, Encompass Health (EHC) 20.6x). 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%, Nutex Health (NUTX) +6.9%, Encompass Health (EHC) +9.4%.

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Nutex Health (NUTX) returned the most: HCA Healthcare (HCA) -0.6%, Nutex Health (NUTX) +65.2%, Encompass Health (EHC) -3.3%. Over five years, Encompass Health (EHC) compounded fastest (HCA Healthcare (HCA) +13.1%/yr, Encompass Health (EHC) +14.0%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

HCA Healthcare (HCA) has the highest dividend yield: HCA Healthcare (HCA) 0.66%, Encompass Health (EHC) 0.64%. Nutex Health (NUTX) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Encompass Health (EHC) has been the steadiest (HCA Healthcare (HCA) 31.2%, Nutex Health (NUTX) 89.2%, Encompass Health (EHC) 29.5%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

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 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.