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Here's Why Universal Health Shares are Attracting Investors Now

Universal Health Services, Inc. UHS is aided by growing patient volumes in its Acute Care Hospital Services unit, a broad treatment network and solid cash reserves. A favorable business outlook for 2024 reinforces investors’ confidence in the stock.

Top Zacks Rank & Upbeat Price Performance of UHS

Universal Health currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

The stock has soared 75.4% in the past year compared with the industry’s 44.8% growth. The Zacks Medical sector has risen 8.6% and the S&P 500 composite has increased 19.9% in the same time frame.

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Zacks Investment Research


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Favorable Style Score of UHS Stock

UHS carries an impressive Value Score of A. Value Score helps find stocks that are undervalued. Back-tested results have shown that stocks with a favorable Value Score, in combination with a solid Zacks Rank, are the best investment bets.

UHS’ Robust Growth Prospects

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Universal Health’s 2024 earnings is pegged at $15.91 per share, which indicates an improvement of 51% from the 2023 figure. The consensus mark for revenues is $15.7 billion, implying a rise of 9.8% from the 2023 figure. The estimate has witnessed seven upward revisions over the past 60 days against no downward movement. 

The consensus mark for 2025 earnings is pegged at $17.45 per share, indicating an improvement of 9.7% from the 2024 estimate. The estimate for revenues is $16.5 billion, implying a 5.5% increase from the 2024 estimate.

Impressive Earnings Surprise History of UHS

Universal Health’s bottom line outpaced estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 14.58%.

Valuation of UHS Stock

Price-to-earnings (P/E) is one of the multiples used for valuing healthcare stocks.  UHS has a reading of 13.5 compared with the hospital industry’s forward 12-month P/E ratio of 15.77. It is quite evident that the stock is currently undervalued.

Universal Health’s Solid 2024 View

UHS anticipates revenues to be within the $15.565-$15.753 billion range, the midpoint of which indicates an improvement of 9.6% from the 2023 figure.

Earnings per share are predicted to be between $15.40 and $16.20, the midpoint of which implies an 49.9% increase from the 2023 figure.

Key Drivers of Universal Health

Universal Health's revenues continue to grow, driven by increasing patient volumes. In the first half of 2024, same-facility adjusted admissions rose 3.9% year over year in its Acute Care Hospital Services unit while adjusted patient days inched up 1.7% year over year in the Behavioral Health Care Services segment.

The resumption of deferred elective procedures is expected to further boost patient volumes and occupancy levels. For healthcare facility operators, expanding patient volumes bode well since they contribute the most to overall revenues.

The company operated an extensive treatment network, including 359 inpatient facilities and 48 outpatient and other facilities across 39 states, Washington, D.C., the United Kingdom and Puerto Rico as of June 30, 2024. Rising mental health problems among Americans are expected to support the ongoing demand for UHS’ services, delivered through its 332 inpatient behavioral healthcare facilities.

Universal Health enhances its operations by launching new services, expanding existing ones, recruiting skilled physicians and applying strong financial and operational controls. These efforts improve the performance of its hospitals and increase profitability. The company also pursues growth through acquisitions while considering divestitures of underperforming assets.

A strong financial position is essential for supporting growth initiatives and Universal Health maintains solid cash reserves and robust cash flows. As of June 30, 2024, cash and cash equivalents increased 7.8% from the 2023-end level, while the company generated $1.1 billion in operating cash flow in the first half of 2024. This financial strength allows UHS to invest in its business and return capital to shareholders through consistent dividend payments and share buybacks, with a steady dividend of 20 cents per share since 2019.

Other Stocks to Consider

Other top-ranked stocks in the Medical space are Intuitive Surgical, Inc. ISRG, LeMaitre Vascular, Inc. LMAT and Tenet Healthcare Corporation THC, each currently sporting a Zacks Rank of 1 . You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Intuitive Surgical’s earnings surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the last four quarters, the average surprise being 8.97%. The consensus estimate for ISRG’s 2024 earnings indicates an improvement of 16.8% while the consensus mark for revenues indicates growth of 13.7% from the respective year-ago figures.

The consensus estimate for ISRG’s earnings has moved 6.5% north in the past 60 days. Shares of Intuitive Surgical have soared 58.2% in the past year.

LeMaitre Vascular’s earnings outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 8.87%. The consensus estimate for LMAT’s 2024 earnings indicates a rise of 37% while the consensus mark for revenues implies an improvement of 13% from the corresponding year-ago figures.

The consensus estimate for LMAT’s earnings has moved 4.5% north in the past 60 days. Shares of LeMaitre Vascular have gained 52.8% in the past year.

Tenet Healthcare’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 58.48%. The consensus estimate for THC’s 2024 earnings indicates a rise of 53.3% while the consensus mark for revenues implies an improvement of 1.4% from the corresponding year-ago figures.

The consensus mark for THC’s 2024 earnings has moved 2.5% north in the past 30 days. Shares of Tenet Healthcare have soared 110.9% in the past year.

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Universal Health Services, Inc. (UHS) : Free Stock Analysis Report

Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (ISRG) : Free Stock Analysis Report

Tenet Healthcare Corporation (THC) : Free Stock Analysis Report

LeMaitre Vascular, Inc. (LMAT) : Free Stock Analysis Report

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