What does debt-to-equity mean?

How much debt the company carries for every dollar of shareholder equity.

How do you interpret debt-to-equity?

Lower is generally safer, but moderate leverage can boost returns. Read in the context of cash-flow stability — a utility tolerates more debt than a cyclical. Negative equity makes the ratio meaningless and it is suppressed there.

How does debt-to-equity compare across companies?

Comparable within an industry; capital structures differ sharply across sectors. Not meaningful for banks.

HCA Healthcare HCA Debt-to-equity

Discontinued — last reported Q1 '21

Debt-to-equity at other companies

HumanaHUM

0.8×0.0×

Tenet HealthcareTHC

2.8×-0.4×

BrightSpring Health Services, Inc.BTSG

1.4×-0.2×

CencoraCOR

3.6×-3.4×

CVS HealthCVS

0.2×0.0×

Healthpeak PropertiesDOC

0×0.0×

Other financials

Income statement

See full

Revenue$19.1B+4.3%

Net income$1.6B+0.6%

EPS (diluted)$7.15+10.9%

Balance sheet

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Cash & equivalents$940.0M-11.3%

Total debt$49.8B+7.3%

Total equity-$6.3B-79.1%

Total assets$61.5B+2.8%

Cash flow

See full

Operating cash flow$2.0B+22.0%

CapEx$1.1B+12.9%

Free cash flow$895.0M+35.6%

Valuation

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Market cap$83.23B+24.4%

Enterprise value$132.13B+18.6%

P/E12.3×+0.7×

P/S1.1×+0.2×

Profitability

See full

Net margin8.9%+0.8pp

Returns & leverage

See full

Return on equity-138.3%—

Current ratio0.8×-0.4×

Where this comes from

Calculated from HCA Healthcare’s reported figures.

total debt/total stockholders equity=132.8×

Based on the most recent quarter.

The official record: HCA Healthcare’s 10-Q, filed May 3, 2022, on SEC EDGAR. View the filing →

Questions, answered.

What does debt-to-equity mean?: How much debt the company carries for every dollar of shareholder equity.
How do you interpret debt-to-equity?: Lower is generally safer, but moderate leverage can boost returns. Read in the context of cash-flow stability — a utility tolerates more debt than a cyclical. Negative equity makes the ratio meaningless and it is suppressed there.
How does debt-to-equity compare across companies?: Comparable within an industry; capital structures differ sharply across sectors. Not meaningful for banks.