THC vs NHC vs ACHC Stock Comparison

Tenet Healthcare, National Healthcare and Acadia Healthcare Company Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
THC Tenet Healthcare Corp
$268.86 +3.5% 1M +27.8% 1Y
Market cap
$21.96B
P/E
9.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$21.81B
Div. yield
–
Hospitals Healthcare
7 wins
NHC National Healthcare Corp
$223.59 -1.4% 1M +82.2% 1Y
Market cap
$3.31B
P/E
23.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.56B
Div. yield
0.01%
Home Health and Senior Care Healthcare
3 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Tenet Healthcare leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (Tenet Healthcare 7, National Healthcare 3, Acadia Healthcare Company 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionTHCNHCACHCLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $21.96B $3.31B $2.70B THC
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 9.8x 23.6x -2.4x THC
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 12.2x — 20.0x THC
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +5.4% +6.9% +4.3% NHC
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 10.3% 9.0% -33.4% THC
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 18.8% 10.0% -24.7% THC
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 2.0x — -2.5x ACHC
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.01% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +27.8% +82.2% +34.0% NHC
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +30.8%/yr +27.4%/yr -11.0%/yr THC
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 42.2% 34.4% 64.3% NHC
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 77/100 77/100 26/100 THC

Percentile Scorecard

THCNHCACHC

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

AxisTHCNHCACHC
Valuation 94 #7 of 93 73 #26 of 93 45 #52 of 93
Growth 74 #24 of 88 79 #19 of 88 6 #83 of 88
Profitability 97 #4 of 87 76 #22 of 87 17 #72 of 87
Financial Health 37 #63 of 100 88 #13 of 100 34 #66 of 100
Shareholder Returns 86 #9 of 56 67 #19 of 56 –
Overall 77 77 26
  • THC ranked among 103 companies in Healthcare Providers
  • NHC ranked among 103 companies in Healthcare Providers
  • ACHC ranked among 103 companies in Healthcare Providers

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodTHCNHCACHCSPY
1 month +3.5%-1.4%+11.6% -0.8%
3 months +10.5%-1.1%-3.6% +3.5%
6 months +44.9%+26.8%+11.3% +7.0%
Year to date +35.3%+63.1%+120.9% +12.2%
1 year +27.8%+82.2%+34.0% +13.0%
3 years +406.1%+238.3%-56.5% +86.3%
3 years, per year +71.8%+50.2%-24.2% +23.1%
5 years +283.2%+235.8%-44.2% +68.6%
5 years, per year +30.8%+27.4%-11.0% +11.0%
10 years +1,144.7%+240.7%-16.8% +258.0%
10 years, per year +28.7%+13.0%-1.8% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureTHCNHCACHCSPY
Volatility, 1Y 42.2%34.4%64.3% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 34.0%31.6%64.9% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.480.150.97 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.662.390.53 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -58.9%-34.4%-86.9% -25.4%
From 52-week high -4.2%-9.6%-12.0% -1.8%
52-week high $280.77$247.31$35.61 $779.14
52-week low $161.37$119.44$11.68 $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.

MultipleTHCNHCACHC
P/E now vs peer median 10.0xmedian 25.1x 24.9xmedian 25.1x -2.5xmedian 25.1x
P/S now vs peer median 1.0xmedian 1.6x 2.2xmedian 1.6x 0.8xmedian 1.6x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 6.0xmedian 14.5x 17.3xmedian 14.5x -5.7xmedian 14.5x
P/FCF now vs peer median 7.2xmedian 22.4x 23.9xmedian 22.4x -21.2xmedian 22.4x
P/B now vs peer median 3.3xmedian 3.1x 3.1xmedian 3.1x 1.4xmedian 3.1x
PEG now vs peer median 0.13median 0.66 0.40median 0.66 0.03median 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 monthsTHCNHCACHC
Revenue $21.81B $1.56B $3.37B
Operating income $4.54B $144.68M –
Net income $3.17B $142.84M -$1.12B
Free cash flow $3.02B $146.53M -$134.03M
EPS (diluted) $26.69 $8.84 $-12.33
Cash & equivalents $2.17B $39.21M $171.29M
Total debt $13.25B – $2.41B
Shares (diluted) 83.96M 15.86M 91.37M
Enterprise value $10.96B $2.29B $2.12B

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
MetricTHCNHCACHC
P/E 10.0x 24.9x -2.5x
P/FCF 7.2x 23.9x -21.2x
P/Operating cash flow 5.4x 18.5x 13.5x
P/S 1.0x 2.2x 0.8x
P/B 3.3x 3.1x 1.4x
P/Tangible book 4.1x 3.2x 1.5x
EV/EBITDA 6.0x 17.3x -5.7x
EV/EBIT 7.2x 22.8x -4.6x
EV/Revenue 1.5x 2.1x 1.5x
EV/FCF 10.8x 22.5x -38.0x
EV/Operating cash flow 8.2x 17.4x 24.2x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.13 0.40 0.03

Growth

14 metrics
MetricTHCNHCACHC
Revenue growth (1Y) 5.4% 6.9% 4.3%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 3.1% 12.8% 6.6%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – – –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – – –
Operating income growth (1Y) 23.5% 24.1% –
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 24.7% 57.4% –
Net income growth (1Y) 32.4% 35.9% -838.8%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 41.1% 68.9% -82.3%
EPS growth (1Y) 65.1% 31.6% -900.5%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 77.6% 61.9% -83.4%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 62.9% 26.7% -50.4%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 31.1% 44.1% -16.6%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 94.7% 23.2% 56.9%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 46.5% 58.0% -73.4%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricTHCNHCACHC
Gross margin – – –
EBITDA margin 25.0% 12.2% -26.6%
Operating margin 20.8% 9.3% –
Pretax margin 17.7% 11.9% -32.6%
Net margin 10.3% 9.0% -33.4%
FCF margin 13.9% 9.4% -4.0%
Operating cash flow margin 18.4% 12.1% 6.3%
Return on equity 47.8% 12.8% -57.0%
Return on assets 10.3% 9.3% -20.2%
Return on invested capital 18.8% 10.0% -24.7%
Return on capital employed 17.9% 11.2% -21.9%
Asset turnover 0.7x 1.0x 0.6x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.3x 1.3x -0.2x
Stock comp / revenue 0.6% 0.3% 0.9%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricTHCNHCACHC
Debt / assets 43.2% – 43.5%
Debt / equity 2.0x – 1.2x
Net debt / EBITDA 2.0x – -2.5x
Debt / FCF 4.4x – -18.0x
Liabilities / assets 78.6% 26.6% 64.3%
Equity / assets 21.4% 73.4% 35.7%
Interest coverage 5.5x 56.6x –
Current ratio 1.4x 1.9x 1.6x
Quick ratio 0.9x 1.5x 1.2x
Cash ratio 0.4x 0.9x 0.3x
Altman Z-score 2.10 7.43 0.31

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricTHCNHCACHC
Dividend yield – 1.2% –
Net buyback yield 7.6% 0.1% –
Shareholder yield 7.6% 1.3% –
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.

ConsensusTHCNHCACHC
Forward P/E 12.2xFY2026 – 20.0xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $21.99FY2026 – $1.57FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +31.0%FY2026 – -21.5%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after -7.1% – +22.3%
Revenue, next fiscal year $23.70BFY2026 – $3.53BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +11.2%FY2026 – +6.5%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -0.3% – +6.9%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersTHCNHCACHC
Held by institutions 96.2% 65.3% 100.0%
Institutions holding 677 250 314
Change in shares held, QoQ -1.9% -0.6% +3.7%
Institutions buying 331 136 165
Institutions selling 260 72 98
Buyers to sellers 1.27 1.89 1.68

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.

THCNHCACHC
THC 1.00 0.24 0.27
NHC 0.24 1.00 0.24
ACHC 0.27 0.24 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, THC, NHC and ACHC?

Tenet Healthcare (THC) is the largest by market capitalisation: Tenet Healthcare (THC) $21.96B, National Healthcare (NHC) $3.31B, Acadia Healthcare Company (ACHC) $2.70B.

Which stock is cheaper, THC, NHC and ACHC?

Tenet Healthcare (THC) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Tenet Healthcare (THC) 9.8x, National Healthcare (NHC) 23.6x, Acadia Healthcare Company (ACHC) -2.4x). On next year's consensus earnings, Tenet Healthcare (THC) is cheapest (Tenet Healthcare (THC) 12.2x, Acadia Healthcare Company (ACHC) 20.0x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

National Healthcare (NHC) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Tenet Healthcare (THC) +5.4%, National Healthcare (NHC) +6.9%, Acadia Healthcare Company (ACHC) +4.3%.

Which company is more profitable?

Tenet Healthcare (THC) has the highest net margin (Tenet Healthcare (THC) 10.3%, National Healthcare (NHC) 9.0%, Acadia Healthcare Company (ACHC) -33.4%). On return on invested capital, Tenet Healthcare (THC) leads (Tenet Healthcare (THC) 18.8%, National Healthcare (NHC) 10.0%, Acadia Healthcare Company (ACHC) -24.7%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year National Healthcare (NHC) returned the most: Tenet Healthcare (THC) +27.8%, National Healthcare (NHC) +82.2%, Acadia Healthcare Company (ACHC) +34.0%. Over five years, Tenet Healthcare (THC) compounded fastest (Tenet Healthcare (THC) +30.8%/yr, National Healthcare (NHC) +27.4%/yr, Acadia Healthcare Company (ACHC) -11.0%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Tenet Healthcare (THC) 0.00%, National Healthcare (NHC) 0.01%, Acadia Healthcare Company (ACHC) 0.00%. Tenet Healthcare (THC) and Acadia Healthcare Company (ACHC) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, National Healthcare (NHC) has been the steadiest (Tenet Healthcare (THC) 42.2%, National Healthcare (NHC) 34.4%, Acadia Healthcare Company (ACHC) 64.3%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, THC, NHC and ACHC?

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