HCA Healthcare, Inc. vs Abbott Laboratories
HCA wins the Tale of the Tape 7–2.
🏆 Tale of the Tape
Green = winner in each category. Higher is better except P/E (lower = cheaper).
Rolling Correlation
Low correlation — excellent diversification pair.
Fundamentals
| Metric | HCA | ABT |
|---|---|---|
| Market Cap | $84.0B | $149.1B |
| P/E Ratio | 13.0x | 24.0x |
| Forward P/E | 11.4x | 14.1x |
| P/B | -13.36x | 2.86x |
| Dividend Yield | 0.82% | 2.94% |
| Beta | 1.19 | 0.65 |
Quantitative Metrics
| Metric | HCA | ABT |
|---|---|---|
| DCF Fair Value | $853.10 | $57.20 |
| DCF Upside | +71.5% | -43.2% |
| Piotroski F | 7/9 | 5/9 |
| Altman Z | 2.81 | 4.87 |
| Beneish M | -2.95 | -2.53 |
| FCF Yield | 5.08% | 4.21% |
| Net Debt/EBITDA | 2.6x | 0.1x |
| ROIC | 21.5% | 10.1% |
| WACC | 10.7% | 9.4% |
| ROIC – WACC | 10.8pp | 0.7pp |
| Gross Margin | 41.5% | 56.4% |
| Net Margin | 9.0% | 14.7% |
| Rev Growth YoY | 7.1% | 5.7% |
| Sharpe (1Y) | 1.41 | -1.05 |
| Max Drawdown 3Y | — | — |
| FCF Payout Ratio | 9% | 56% |
HCA Price
ABT Price
ETF Exposure
HCA found in:
ABT found in:
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Quant metrics computed from financial statements and 1,200+ trading days. Correlation is Pearson coefficient on daily log returns. Not investment advice.
HCA vs ABT: Head-to-Head Analysis
HCA Healthcare, Inc. (HCA) and Abbott Laboratories (ABT) represent two companies in the Healthcare sector. In our quantitative Tale of the Tape scoring, HCA leads 7–2 across nine fundamental and risk metrics including profitability, valuation, capital efficiency, and financial health.
In terms of capital efficiency, HCA generates a return on invested capital (ROIC) of 21.5% compared to ABT's 10.1%. This suggests HCA is more effective at deploying capital to generate shareholder returns.
The 252-day rolling correlation between HCA and ABT is 0.220, indicating low correlation, making them an effective diversification pair in a portfolio context.
HCA appears in 30 ETFs tracked by SecuritiesDB, while ABT appears in 34 ETFs. Investors holding broad-market ETFs may already have indirect exposure to both stocks.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which stock is the better investment, HCA or ABT?
Our quantitative analysis compares HCA and ABT across nine fundamental dimensions. HCA wins the Tale of the Tape 7–2. However, stock selection depends on your individual risk tolerance, time horizon, and portfolio context. These metrics are computed from SEC filings and market data — they are not investment recommendations.
Are HCA and ABT correlated?
The 252-day correlation between HCA and ABT is 0.220. They have low correlation, offering good diversification.
How is the Tale of the Tape scored?
The Tale of the Tape compares both stocks across nine categories: profitability (net margin), valuation (P/E), efficiency (ROIC), health (Piotroski F-Score), safety (Altman Z-Score), growth (revenue YoY), risk (Sharpe ratio), leverage (debt-to-equity), and cash generation (FCF yield). The stock that wins more categories takes the overall score. Lower P/E and lower debt-to-equity count as wins.