HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) saw significant share price movement during recent months on the NYSE, rising to highs of US$416 and falling to the lows of US$336. Some share price movements can give investors a better opportunity to enter into the stock, and potentially buy at a lower price. A question to answer is whether HCA Healthcare's current trading price of US$336 reflective of the actual value of the large-cap? Or is it currently undervalued, providing us with the opportunity to buy? Let’s take a look at HCA Healthcare’s outlook and value based on the most recent financial data to see if there are any catalysts for a price change.

See our latest analysis for HCA Healthcare

What's The Opportunity In HCA Healthcare?

Great news for investors – HCA Healthcare is still trading at a fairly cheap price according to our price multiple model, where we compare the company's price-to-earnings ratio to the industry average. In this instance, we’ve used the price-to-earnings (PE) ratio given that there is not enough information to reliably forecast the stock’s cash flows. we find that HCA Healthcare’s ratio of 14.35x is below its peer average of 25.21x, which indicates the stock is trading at a lower price compared to the Healthcare industry. What’s more interesting is that, HCA Healthcare’s share price is quite volatile, which gives us more chances to buy since the share price could sink lower (or rise higher) in the future. This is based on its high beta, which is a good indicator for how much the stock moves relative to the rest of the market.

What does the future of HCA Healthcare look like?

Future outlook is an important aspect when you’re looking at buying a stock, especially if you are an investor looking for growth in your portfolio. Although value investors would argue that it’s the intrinsic value relative to the price that matter the most, a more compelling investment thesis would be high growth potential at a cheap price. HCA Healthcare's earnings growth are expected to be in the teens in the upcoming years, indicating a solid future ahead. This should lead to robust cash flows, feeding into a higher share value.

What This Means For You

Are you a shareholder? Since HCA is currently below the industry PE ratio, it may be a great time to accumulate more of your holdings in the stock. With a positive outlook on the horizon, it seems like this growth has not yet been fully factored into the share price. However, there are also other factors such as capital structure to consider, which could explain the current price multiple.