Wall Street Zen Upgrades Ardent Health (NYSE:ARDT) to Buy

Ardent Health (NYSE:ARDT) was upgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

ARDT has been the topic of a number of other reports. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on Ardent Health in a research note on Tuesday, September 22nd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $11.00 price target on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Ardent Health from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 7th. Stephens raised their price objective on shares of Ardent Health from $13.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Ardent Health from $13.00 to $18.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on Ardent Health from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.54.

Ardent Health Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ARDT opened at $17.23 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.46, a P/E/G ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.58. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $11.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $10.10. Ardent Health has a fifty-two week low of $7.71 and a fifty-two week high of $17.67. The company has a quick ratio of 1.99, a current ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Ardent Health (NYSE:ARDT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The company reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.08. Ardent Health had a return on equity of 10.35% and a net margin of 1.22%. The business had revenue of $1.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.60 billion. Equities analysts expect that Ardent Health will post 0.96 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ardent Health

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Allworth Financial LP purchased a new position in shares of Ardent Health during the second quarter valued at $28,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new position in Ardent Health during the second quarter worth $57,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Ardent Health during the third quarter valued at $61,000. Abel Hall LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ardent Health in the 1st quarter valued at about $87,000. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ardent Health during the third quarter valued at $110,000.

Key Headlines Impacting Ardent Health

Here are the key news stories impacting Ardent Health this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Ardent reported Q3 earnings of $0.31 per share, ahead of analyst estimates of roughly $0.23–$0.24, and revenue of $1.625 billion versus the $1.60 billion consensus. Recent coverage also highlighted a return to profitability and improved guidance. Zacks Q3 earnings report Profit and guidance coverage
• Positive Sentiment: Stephens raised its price target to $21 from $13 and maintained an Overweight rating, implying further potential upside from the quoted $17.23 share price. Stephens ratings
• Positive Sentiment: RBC lifted its target to $18 from $13 and reiterated an Outperform rating, signaling a more positive view after the results. RBC ratings
• Neutral Sentiment: The strong rally has brought the stock close to its 12-month high, and a recent analysis questioned whether shares may already be above fair value. That could limit further gains if investors have priced in the earnings beat and raised outlook. Valuation analysis
• Negative Sentiment: Despite beating estimates, quarterly EPS was below the $0.52 reported a year earlier, pointing to year-over-year earnings pressure. Zacks earnings comparison

Ardent Health Company Profile

Ardent Health is a U.S. healthcare services company that operates hospitals, outpatient facilities and physician practices. Its services include emergency and acute care, surgery, cardiology, orthopedics, oncology, women’s health, behavioral health, rehabilitation, imaging and other specialty and primary care offerings.

The company serves patients through regional health networks and hospital campuses primarily in Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico and other U.S. markets. In addition to hospital-based care, Ardent operates outpatient clinics, urgent care locations and other facilities designed to provide services across different stages of the patient-care process.

Ardent Health was founded in 2001 and became a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange in 2024.