Community Health Systems Inc Stock Upgraded (CYH)

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Community Health Systems (NYSE:CYH) has been upgraded by TheStreet Ratings from hold to buy. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its solid stock price performance, increase in net income, revenue growth, attractive valuation levels and growth in earnings per share. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had somewhat disappointing return on equity.

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Highlights from the ratings report include:

• The company, on the basis of net income growth from the same quarter one year ago, has significantly outperformed against the S&P 500 and exceeded that of the Health Care Providers & Services industry average. The net income increased by 23.1% when compared to the same quarter one year prior, going from $61.32 million to $75.47 million.
• Despite its growing revenue, the company underperformed as compared with the industry average of 13.1%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues rose by 10.4%. This growth in revenue appears to have trickled down to the company's bottom line, improving the earnings per share.
• The stock has not only risen over the past year, it has done so at a faster pace than the S&P 500, reflecting the earnings growth and other positive factors similar to those we have cited here. Turning our attention to the future direction of the stock, it goes without saying that even the best stocks can fall in an overall down market. However, in any other environment, this stock still has good upside potential despite the fact that it has already risen in the past year.
• COMMUNITY HEALTH SYSTEMS INC's earnings per share improvement from the most recent quarter was slightly positive. This company has reported somewhat volatile earnings recently. But, we feel it is poised for EPS growth in the coming year. During the past fiscal year, COMMUNITY HEALTH SYSTEMS INC reported lower earnings of $2.86 versus $3.09 in the prior year. This year, the market expects an improvement in earnings ($3.64 versus $2.86).

Community Health Systems, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides general and specialized hospital healthcare services to patients in the United States. The company has a P/E ratio of 8.8, below the average health services industry P/E ratio of 11.3 and below the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7. Community Health Systems has a market cap of $2.34 billion and is part of the health care sector and health services industry. Shares are up 57.8% year to date as of the close of trading on Friday.

You can view the full Community Health Systems Ratings Report or get investment ideas from our investment research center.

-- Written by a member of TheStreet Ratings Staff

TheStreet ratings do not represent the views of TheStreet's staff or its contributors. Ratings are established by computer based on metrics for performance (which includes growth, stock performance, efficiency and valuation) and risk (volatility and solvency). Companies with poor cash flow or high debt levels tend to earn lower ratings in our model.

 

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