HCA Healthcare, Inc. HCA recently forged an alliance with Steward Health Care whereby the former will acquire the operations of the latter’s five Utah hospitals. Subject to certain closing conditions, HCA Healthcare also agreed to lease the related real estate from Medical Properties Trust, Inc. MPW. However, terms of the deal were kept under wraps.

The hospitals will be added to the hospital company’s Mountain Division that consists of 11 hospitals in Utah, Idaho and Alaska.

Steward Health Care is a Dallas-based company that operates 39 hospitals in the United States across Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas and Utah. It will be able to grow and reinvest in other regions after this divestiture.

HCA Healthcare is the perfect fit to cater to Utah’s rise in demand for healthcare as its network of healthcare options is expected to enrich the medical care for patients.

Acquisitions have been fueling this presently Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) company’s inorganic growth for a while now. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Its growth strategies led to an increase in patient volumes, which enabled network expansion across several markets and added hospitals to its portfolio.

The company’s acquisitions are expected to add scale to its business. In 2019 and 2020, HCA Healthcare paid a total of $1.7 billion and $568 million each in acquiring hospitals and health care entities. In July, it bought a majority stake in the home health, hospice and outpatient therapy business of Brookdale Senior Living Inc. BKD.

In late February, Brookdale inked a deal to collaborate with HCA Healthcare for divesting its unit Brookdale Health Care Services (BHS), valued at $500 million.

Buyouts in the Space

There has been a host of activities in the space of late. Last month, The Ensign Group, Inc. ENSG purchased Sedona Trace Health and Wellness Center in Austin, TX and Cedar Pointe Health and Wellness Center in Cedar, TX. The transactions were effective Aug 1, 2021.

Post the pandemic, the hospital comapnies continue to intensify focus on their M&A strategies, which added facilities and beds to their network, boosted business scale and expanded their geographical presence.

Price Performance

Shares of HCA Healthcare have gained 112.8% in a year’s time, outperforming its industry’s growth of 97.4%.

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Brookdale Senior Living Inc. (BKD) : Free Stock Analysis Report

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