Community Health Systems, Inc. (NYSE:CYH) Stock Now Rated “Reduce” by Wall Street Analysts

Shares of Community Health Systems, Inc. (NYSE:CYH) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the eight research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $2.51.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on CYH shares. Weiss Ratings downgraded Community Health Systems from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 14th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Community Health Systems from $3.00 to $2.55 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 30th. Zacks Research cut Community Health Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, November 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Community Health Systems from $2.00 to $1.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 3rd. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Community Health Systems from $3.25 to $2.50 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 3rd.

Community Health Systems Stock Down 3.8%

Community Health Systems stock opened at $2.17 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $2.76 and a 200-day moving average of $3.00. Community Health Systems has a 52-week low of $2.04 and a 52-week high of $3.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $306.74 million, a P/E ratio of 8.37 and a beta of 1.90.

Community Health Systems (NYSE:CYH) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The company reported ($0.48) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.29) by ($0.19). Community Health Systems had a net margin of 0.31% and a negative return on equity of 6.66%. The business had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.80 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.27 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Community Health Systems will post -1.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Community Health Systems

In related news, Director William Jennings sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.96, for a total transaction of $118,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 38,468 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $113,865.28. This trade represents a 50.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Community Health Systems

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Apollo Management Holdings L.P. boosted its position in Community Health Systems by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Apollo Management Holdings L.P. now owns 11,859,526 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,611,000 after buying an additional 370,210 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Community Health Systems during the second quarter worth about $36,508,000. Eversept Partners LP increased its position in shares of Community Health Systems by 9.2% during the first quarter. Eversept Partners LP now owns 8,677,281 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,511,000 after acquiring an additional 733,479 shares during the last quarter. Whitebox Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Community Health Systems by 42.1% in the first quarter. Whitebox Advisors LLC now owns 3,127,884 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,196,000 after acquiring an additional 926,364 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Owl Creek Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Community Health Systems by 65.4% in the first quarter. Owl Creek Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,530,622 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,440,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000,862 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.99% of the company’s stock.

Community Health Systems Company Profile

Community Health Systems, Inc. (NYSE: CYH) is a healthcare services company that owns, leases, and operates general acute-care hospitals and related healthcare facilities in the United States. The company focuses primarily on serving communities in small cities and non-urban markets, providing access to hospital-based and outpatient care. Its services generally include emergency care, inpatient and outpatient treatment, surgery, diagnostic imaging, laboratory services, rehabilitation, and other clinical programs.