Ardent Health (NYSE:ARDT) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.10 EPS

Ardent Health (NYSE:ARDT) announced its earnings results on Wednesday. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.10, Zacks reports. Ardent Health had a return on equity of 16.66% and a net margin of 4.11%.

Ardent Health Price Performance

Ardent Health stock traded up $0.05 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $14.10. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 569,917 shares, compared to its average volume of 391,890. The company has a current ratio of 2.13, a quick ratio of 2.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market cap of $2.02 billion, a PE ratio of 7.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.04 and a beta of 0.44. Ardent Health has a 52 week low of $10.10 and a 52 week high of $17.95. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $13.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $13.39.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ardent Health

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ARDT. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ardent Health by 1,684.9% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 767,862 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,558,000 after buying an additional 724,841 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Ardent Health by 75.6% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,634,822 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,332,000 after acquiring an additional 703,739 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ardent Health by 44.5% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,352,676 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,923,000 after acquiring an additional 416,348 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP acquired a new position in shares of Ardent Health in the second quarter worth approximately $2,684,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Ardent Health by 94.4% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 342,799 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,683,000 after acquiring an additional 166,483 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on Ardent Health from $24.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ardent Health from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Ardent Health from $18.00 to $15.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Ardent Health in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $19.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Bank of America lowered shares of Ardent Health from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $15.50 to $14.60 in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $18.78.

About Ardent Health

Ardent Health Partners, Inc owns and operates a network of hospitals and clinics that provides a range of healthcare services in the United States. It operates acute care hospitals, including rehabilitation hospitals and surgical hospitals. The company was founded in 2001 and is based in Brentwood, Tennessee.