Analysts cited lower costs for uncompensated care and said the results were close enough to Wall Street forecasts to satisfy investors.
Medcath shares gained $1.07, or 15.1 percent, to $8.18 in afternoon trading. Shares have traded between $5.89 and $27 over the last 52 weeks.
Late Wednesday, the company said it earned $2.2 million, or 11 cents per share, in the three months ended Dec. 31 compared with profit of $3.1 million, or 14 cents per share, a year earlier. Revenue rose 4 percent to $153.1 million from $146.7 million.
Earnings from continuing operations, excluding debt refinancing and other charges, was 18 cents per share, the company said. Several analysts said the company earned 14 cents per share, when factoring in a normalized tax rate.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected a profit of 16 cents per share on revenue of $161.3 million.
"We experienced solid sequential earnings growth and margin expansion; and our cash flow from operations was extremely strong," Chief Executive Ed French said in a statement. "Our expansion plans continue to move forward as planned, and we look to add 149 beds during the next 10 months."
Admissions at hospitals open at least a year fell 5.5 percent, while outpatient visits rose 16.3 percent. Commercial admissions of 23.6 percent were unchanged, while self-pay admissions made up 2.2 percent of the total.
During the quarter, uncompensated care was 8.5 percent of revenue, compared with 9.2 percent last year. Uncompensated care includes charity care and bad debt, which is the amount of debt a hospital incurs from treating uninsured or underinsured patients and has been unable to collect.
Citi analyst Gary Taylor reaffirmed a "Hold" rating and $9 price target and remained cautious on the company's outlook, as the hospital industry faces increasing costs from uninsured and underinsured patients. He considered the company's earnings-per-share a slight miss at 14 cents, but said the results are good enough to support the stock.
MedCath, based in Charlotte, N.C., owns an interest in and operates nine hospitals with a total of 676 licensed beds in Arizona, Arkansas, California, Louisiana, New Mexico, South Dakota, and Texas.
via yahoo
Medcath shares gained $1.07, or 15.1 percent, to $8.18 in afternoon trading. Shares have traded between $5.89 and $27 over the last 52 weeks.
Late Wednesday, the company said it earned $2.2 million, or 11 cents per share, in the three months ended Dec. 31 compared with profit of $3.1 million, or 14 cents per share, a year earlier. Revenue rose 4 percent to $153.1 million from $146.7 million.
Earnings from continuing operations, excluding debt refinancing and other charges, was 18 cents per share, the company said. Several analysts said the company earned 14 cents per share, when factoring in a normalized tax rate.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected a profit of 16 cents per share on revenue of $161.3 million.
"We experienced solid sequential earnings growth and margin expansion; and our cash flow from operations was extremely strong," Chief Executive Ed French said in a statement. "Our expansion plans continue to move forward as planned, and we look to add 149 beds during the next 10 months."
Admissions at hospitals open at least a year fell 5.5 percent, while outpatient visits rose 16.3 percent. Commercial admissions of 23.6 percent were unchanged, while self-pay admissions made up 2.2 percent of the total.
During the quarter, uncompensated care was 8.5 percent of revenue, compared with 9.2 percent last year. Uncompensated care includes charity care and bad debt, which is the amount of debt a hospital incurs from treating uninsured or underinsured patients and has been unable to collect.
Citi analyst Gary Taylor reaffirmed a "Hold" rating and $9 price target and remained cautious on the company's outlook, as the hospital industry faces increasing costs from uninsured and underinsured patients. He considered the company's earnings-per-share a slight miss at 14 cents, but said the results are good enough to support the stock.
MedCath, based in Charlotte, N.C., owns an interest in and operates nine hospitals with a total of 676 licensed beds in Arizona, Arkansas, California, Louisiana, New Mexico, South Dakota, and Texas.
via yahoo
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