Touch and Go at HMA

Moreover, the company executed that transaction at a time when industry volumes have been particularly weak and bad debt from the uninsured has been especially high.

To its credit, HMA has promised to control its appetite for other hospitals going forward. In the meantime, however, the company has found itself struggling to post the kind of stellar results that once drew investors to its stock. And even some long-time holders of the shares have started itching with frustration as a result.

"This has turned into a value stock without a ton of downside. But we're growth investors," said a research analyst for a firm that owns the stock. "This is a position I'm not happy to be in. I don't love HMA; it hasn't been good to us for a long time."

The stock rose 2.1% to $19.74 on Friday but remains near the low end of its 52-week range of $19.04 to $26.41 a share. The company did not return a phone call seeking comments for this story.

High Stakes

Private Capital Management, an investment firm headquartered in Naples, ranks as the company's largest institutional holder, with 21.8 million shares, or 9.1% of the outstanding stock.

The firm failed to return a phone call seeking comments about that investment. However, it has briefly explained its stand in quarterly letters to its clients. During the third and fourth quarters of last year, for example, Private Capital blamed the poor performance of its hospital holdings on the violent hurricane season. More recently, in its first-quarter update, it reported "solid" results for the period and expressed optimism about its hospital investments even though HMA itself had suffered a fall.

The value of Private Capital Management's stake in HMA has declined from $471 million to $430 million since that time.