HCA vs SGRY vs ARDT Stock Comparison

HCA Healthcare, Surgery Partners and Ardent Health Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
HCA HCA Healthcare, Inc.
$469.11 +7.4% 1M +6.6% 1Y
Market cap
$102.34B
P/E
15.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$78.01B
Div. yield
–
Hospitals Healthcare
8 wins
ARDT Ardent Health, Inc.
$12.27 +15.2% 1M -17.2% 1Y
Market cap
$1.73B
P/E
22.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$6.41B
Div. yield
–
Hospitals Healthcare
3 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

HCA Healthcare leads on 8 of the 12 questions below (HCA Healthcare 8, Ardent Health 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionHCASGRYARDTLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $102.34B $2.99B $1.73B HCA
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 15.0x -33.8x 22.1x HCA
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 15.5x 37.5x 13.2x ARDT
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +7.3% +4.0% +3.3% HCA
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 8.8% -2.6% 1.2% HCA
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 22.0% 5.3% 7.4% HCA
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 3.1x 6.3x 0.9x ARDT
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +6.6% -28.3% -17.2% HCA
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +13.1%/yr -18.4%/yr — HCA
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 31.3% 54.1% 59.5% HCA
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 59/100 57/100 67/100 ARDT

Percentile Scorecard

HCASGRYARDT

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

AxisHCASGRYARDT
Valuation 86 #14 of 93 89 #11 of 93 99 #2 of 93
Growth 25 #66 of 88 43 #51 of 88 47 #47 of 88
Profitability 94 #6 of 87 64 #32 of 87 66 #30 of 87
Financial Health 16 #84 of 100 31 #69 of 100 58 #43 of 100
Shareholder Returns 75 #15 of 56 – –
Overall 59 57 67
  • HCA ranked among 103 companies in Healthcare Providers
  • SGRY ranked among 103 companies in Healthcare Providers
  • ARDT ranked among 103 companies in Healthcare Providers

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodHCASGRYARDTSPY
1 month +7.4%+8.2%+15.2% -1.0%
3 months +22.7%+0.1%+15.4% +2.9%
6 months +8.5%+9.8%+26.6% +6.4%
Year to date +0.5%+1.9%+39.0% +11.4%
1 year +6.6%-28.3%-17.2% +13.1%
3 years +103.9%-35.1%— +79.4%
3 years, per year +26.8%-13.4%— +21.5%
5 years +85.3%-63.8%— +67.7%
5 years, per year +13.1%-18.4%— +10.9%
10 years +473.9%-22.6%— +255.2%
10 years, per year +19.1%-2.5%— +13.5%

Risk

MeasureHCASGRYARDTSPY
Volatility, 1Y 31.3%54.1%59.5% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 30.6%65.5%74.2% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.170.671.18 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.21-0.52-0.29 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -39.7%-81.4%-61.2% -25.4%
From 52-week high -13.9%-31.3%-19.3% -2.5%
52-week high $545.13$22.94$15.21 $779.14
52-week low $361.32$11.49$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.

MultipleHCASGRYARDT
P/E now vs peer median 15.1xmedian 25.3x -22.9xmedian 25.3x 22.2xmedian 25.3x
P/S now vs peer median 1.3xmedian 1.6x 0.6xmedian 1.6x 0.3xmedian 1.6x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 9.5xmedian 14.6x 10.0xmedian 14.6x 5.0xmedian 14.6x
P/FCF now vs peer median 17.0xmedian 22.7x 11.0xmedian 22.7x 5.7xmedian 22.7x
P/B now vs peer median -15.4xmedian 3.3x 0.7xmedian 3.3x 1.0xmedian 3.3x
PEG now vs peer median 1.08median 0.66 1.33median 0.66 —median 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 monthsHCASGRYARDT
Revenue $78.01B $3.37B $6.41B
Operating income – $383.80M –
Net income $7.85B $48.10M $125.32M
Free cash flow $6.00B $187.60M $304.76M
EPS (diluted) $30.70 $-0.69 $0.55
Cash & equivalents $1.01B $216.70M $724.48M
Total debt $49.72B $3.75B $1.10B
Shares (diluted) 222.83M 128.83M 143.05M
Enterprise value $98.35B $2.15B -$921.78M

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
MetricHCASGRYARDT
P/E 15.1x -22.9x 22.2x
P/FCF 17.0x 11.0x 5.7x
P/Operating cash flow 9.2x 8.0x 3.4x
P/S 1.3x 0.6x 0.3x
P/B -15.4x 0.7x 1.0x
P/Tangible book -15.4x 0.7x 1.0x
EV/EBITDA 9.5x 10.0x 5.0x
EV/EBIT 12.4x 14.6x 8.2x
EV/Revenue 1.9x 1.7x 0.3x
EV/FCF 25.2x 29.8x 7.0x
EV/Operating cash flow 13.6x 21.7x 4.1x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.08 1.33 –

Growth

14 metrics
MetricHCASGRYARDT
Revenue growth (1Y) 7.3% 4.0% 3.3%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 8.0% 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) 14.1% 136.2% -61.3%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 4.2% 15.6% –
EPS growth (1Y) 24.4% 51.6% -69.6%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 14.0% -17.2% –
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -6.8% -2.2% 70.3%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 4.2% 16.4% –
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -17.8% 7.0% 181.8%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 6.7% 36.7% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricHCASGRYARDT
Gross margin – – –
EBITDA margin 20.4% 16.7% 6.7%
Operating margin – 11.4% –
Pretax margin 12.7% 11.4% 3.2%
Net margin 8.8% -2.6% 1.2%
FCF margin 7.7% 5.6% 4.8%
Operating cash flow margin 14.3% 7.7% 8.0%
Return on equity – 2.6% 9.7%
Return on assets 12.6% 1.0% 3.2%
Return on invested capital 22.0% 5.3% 7.4%
Return on capital employed 27.1% 5.1% 6.0%
Asset turnover 1.3x 0.4x 1.2x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.4x 5.4x 4.1x
Stock comp / revenue 0.5% 0.3% 0.6%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricHCASGRYARDT
Debt / assets 78.6% 46.6% 20.9%
Debt / equity -7.5x 1.2x 0.6x
Net debt / EBITDA 3.1x 6.3x 0.9x
Debt / FCF 8.3x 20.0x 3.6x
Liabilities / assets 110.5% 61.5% 66.9%
Equity / assets -10.5% 38.5% 33.1%
Interest coverage 5.3x – 5.1x
Current ratio 1.0x 1.9x 2.1x
Quick ratio 0.8x 1.4x 1.5x
Cash ratio 0.1x 0.4x 0.7x
Altman Z-score 2.61 0.76 2.06

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricHCASGRYARDT
Dividend yield 0.7% – –
Net buyback yield 8.5% – –
Shareholder yield 9.2% – –
Payout ratio (earnings) – – –
Payout ratio (FCF) – – –
Dividend growth (1Y) – – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – –

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.

ConsensusHCASGRYARDT
Forward P/E 15.5xFY2026 37.5xFY2026 13.2xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $30.21FY2026 $0.42FY2026 $0.93FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +7.1%FY2026 -10.6%FY2026 -3.1%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +11.0% -2.4% +17.2%
Revenue, next fiscal year $73.04BFY2026 $3.46BFY2026 $6.84BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY -3.4%FY2026 +4.7%FY2026 +8.2%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +18.8% -1.2% +1.4%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersHCASGRYARDT
Held by institutions 59.5% 100.0% 76.4%
Institutions holding 1,333 189 137
Change in shares held, QoQ +0.3% -0.8% +1.4%
Institutions buying 567 111 87
Institutions selling 563 50 36
Buyers to sellers 1.01 2.22 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.

HCASGRYARDT
HCA 1.00 0.34 0.31
SGRY 0.34 1.00 0.28
ARDT 0.31 0.28 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, HCA, SGRY and ARDT?

HCA Healthcare (HCA) is the largest by market capitalisation: HCA Healthcare (HCA) $102.34B, Surgery Partners (SGRY) $2.99B, Ardent Health (ARDT) $1.73B.

Which stock is cheaper, HCA, SGRY and ARDT?

HCA Healthcare (HCA) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (HCA Healthcare (HCA) 15.0x, Surgery Partners (SGRY) -33.8x, Ardent Health (ARDT) 22.1x). On next year's consensus earnings, Ardent Health (ARDT) is cheapest (HCA Healthcare (HCA) 15.5x, Surgery Partners (SGRY) 37.5x, Ardent Health (ARDT) 13.2x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

HCA Healthcare (HCA) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: HCA Healthcare (HCA) +7.3%, Surgery Partners (SGRY) +4.0%, Ardent Health (ARDT) +3.3%.

Which company is more profitable?

HCA Healthcare (HCA) has the highest net margin (HCA Healthcare (HCA) 8.8%, Surgery Partners (SGRY) -2.6%, Ardent Health (ARDT) 1.2%). On return on invested capital, HCA Healthcare (HCA) leads (HCA Healthcare (HCA) 22.0%, Surgery Partners (SGRY) 5.3%, Ardent Health (ARDT) 7.4%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year HCA Healthcare (HCA) returned the most: HCA Healthcare (HCA) +6.6%, Surgery Partners (SGRY) -28.3%, Ardent Health (ARDT) -17.2%. Over five years, HCA Healthcare (HCA) compounded fastest (HCA Healthcare (HCA) +13.1%/yr, Surgery Partners (SGRY) -18.4%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, HCA Healthcare (HCA) has been the steadiest (HCA Healthcare (HCA) 31.3%, Surgery Partners (SGRY) 54.1%, Ardent Health (ARDT) 59.5%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, HCA, SGRY 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, HCA Healthcare (HCA) leads on 8. 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.