Shares of hospital operator HCA fall despite profit beat

(Adds analyst and company comments)

By Susan Kelly

May 3 (Reuters) - Shares of HCA Holdings Inc, the largest U.S. for-profit hospital operator, fell about 3 percent on Tuesday after it posted a quarterly profit that exceeded analyst estimates on higher patient admissions but disappointed investors who had expected a stronger performance.

HCA said the first-quarter results were in line with internal projections.

"The first quarter was another quarter of solid volume growth for the company," HCA Chief Operating Officer Sam Hazen said on a conference call.

Investors have been watching for signs of a rebound in U.S. demand for healthcare services after growth slowed in the second half of last year.

"Expectations were just high," Jefferies analyst Brian Tanquilut said.

Newly insured patients stepped up visits to the doctor following the creation of insurance marketplaces and the expansion of the Medicaid program for the poor under President Barack Obama's 2010 healthcare reform law, but demand has since tapered off.

HCA said its equivalent admissions, which include both patients who stay in the hospital overnight and those who are treated on an outpatient basis, rose 3.1 percent in the first quarter.

Tenet Healthcare Corp, the third-largest U.S. for-profit hospital chain, reported on Monday a 2.2 percent rise in first-quarter adjusted admissions. No. 2 hospital operator Community Health Systems Inc on Monday said its adjusted admissions rose 1.3 percent.

HCA said its net income in its most recent quarter rose to $694 million, or $1.69 per share, from $591 million, or $1.36 per share, a year earlier.

Excluding items, the company earned $1.71 per share, beating the average analyst estimate of $1.49, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Revenue rose 6 percent to $10.26 billion, just above the average analyst estimate of $10.25 billion.

The company raised its full-year 2016 adjusted earnings forecast to $6.20-$6.65 per share, from $6.00-$6.45.

HCA shares fell 2.7 percent to $78.99 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

Shares of Community Health were down 7.1 percent at $14.63 on the NYSE, as investors focused on the company's higher-than-expected expenses in its first quarter. Tenet shares rose 1.7 percent to $32.18.

(Additional reporting by Ankur Banerjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza, Saumyadeb Chakrabarty and Paul Simao)