Best Mid Cap Stocks To Buy For 2014

Best Mid Cap Stocks To Buy For 2014: HCA Holdings Inc (HCA)

HCA Holdings, Inc. (HCA), incorporated in January 1990, is a holding company whose affiliates owns and operates hospitals and related health care entities. HCA is a health care services companies in the United States. At December 31, 2011, it operated 163 hospitals, comprised of 157 general, acute care hospitals; five psychiatric hospitals, and one rehabilitation hospital. In addition, it operated 108 freestanding surgery centers. Its operations are structured into three geographically organized groups: the National, Southwest and Central Groups. At December 31, 2011, the National Group includes 64 hospitals located in Florida, South Carolina, southern Georgia, Alaska, California, Nevada, Utah and Idaho, the Southwest Group includes 46 hospitals located in Colorado, Texas, Oklahoma and the Wichita, Kansas market, and the Central Group includes 47 hospitals located in Louisiana, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, New Hampshire, northern Georgia and the Kansas City mark et. The Company also operates six hospitals in England, and these facilities are included in the Corporate and other group. Its facilities are located in 20 states and England. During October 2011, the Company completed its acquisition of the Colorado Health Foundation's (Foundation).In December 2011, it sold Palmyra Medical Center in Albany, Ga.

The Company's general, acute care hospitals typically provide a range of services to accommodate such medical specialties as internal medicine, general surgery, cardiology, oncology, neurosurgery, orthopedics and obstetrics, as well as diagnostic and emergency services. Outpatient and ancillary health care services are provided by its general, acute care hospitals, freestanding surgery centers, diagnostic centers and rehabilitation facilities. Its psychiatric hospitals provide a full range of mental health care services t! hrough inpatient, partial hospitalization and outpatient settings.

The Company own s, manages or operates hospitals; freestanding surgery cente! rs; diagnostic and imaging centers; radiation and oncology therapy centers; rehabilitation and physical therapy centers, and various other facilities. At December 31, 2011, it owned and operated 157 general, acute care hospitals with 40,988 licensed beds. Most of its general, acute care hospitals provide medical and surgical services, including inpatient care, intensive care, cardiac care, diagnostic services and emergency services. The general, acute care hospitals also provide outpatient services such as outpatient surgery, laboratory, radiology, respiratory therapy, cardiology and physical therapy. At December 31, 2011, it operated five psychiatric hospitals with 506 licensed beds. Its psychiatric hospitals provide therapeutic programs including child, adolescent and adult psychiatric care, adult and adolescent alcohol and drug abuse treatment and counseling.

The Company also operates outpatient health care facilities, which include freestanding ambulatory su rgery centers (ASCs), freestanding emergency care facilities, diagnostic and imaging centers, comprehensive outpatient rehabilitation and physical therapy centers, outpatient radiation and oncology therapy centers and various other facilities. Most of its ASCs are operated through partnerships or limited liability companies, with majority ownership of each partnership or Limited Liability Company typically held by a general partner or subsidiary that is an affiliate of HCA. Certain of its affiliates provide a variety of management services to its health care facilities, including patient safety programs; ethics and compliance programs; national supply contracts; equipment purchasing and leasing contracts; accounting, financial and clinical systems; governmental reimbursement assistance; construction planning and coordination; information technology systems and solutions; le! gal couns! el; human resources services; and internal audit services. Under the Medicare program, it rece ives reimbursement under a prospective payment system (PPS) ! for gener! al, acute care hospital inpatient services.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Michael Calia]

  HCA Holdings Inc.(HCA) said its fourth-quarter earnings rose 35% on improved revenue that masked a decline in the hospital operator’s same-facility admissions. The company projected earnings for 2014 that were below estimates.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Tenets plunge has helped drag other healthcare stocks lower. Community Health (CYH) has dropped 3.6% to $42.21, HCA Holdings (HCA) has fallen 2.1% to $46.72 and Universal Health Services (UHS) is off 1% at $80.59.

• [By Terri Stridsberg]

  HCA Holdings Inc. (HCA) has also been a standout on the charts this year, boasting a 2013 advance of nearly 55%—and besting the broader S&P 500 Index (SPX) by roughly 17 percentage points during the most recent three-month time frame—to trade at $46.67.

• [By Sean Williams]

  Obamacare is also succeeding in bringing previously uninsured Americans with preexisting conditions who had been denied by insurers otherwise into the fold. Perhaps not the best news for insurance companies in this respect, it is great news for hospital providers like HCA Holdings (NYSE: HCA  ) , which would expect to see a reduction in doubtful accounts with more of its sick patients being covered by insurance. Last year, HCA wrote off about 10.3% of its revenue as uncollectable because it treated patients who were uninsured or simply couldn't pay their bill. With the individual mandate soon to become an enforceable law on Jan. 1, 2014, the expectation is that lower doubtful account provisions (and thus better margins) could allow HCA to purchase state-of-the-art medical equipment or perhaps repurchase its own shares or initiate a dividend.

source from Top Stocks Blog:http://www.topstocksblog.com/best-mid-cap-stocks-to-buy-for-2014.html