The following are the top rated Health Care stocks according to Validea's P/E/Growth Investor model based on the published strategy of Peter Lynch. This strategy looks for stocks trading at a reasonable price relative to earnings growth that also possess strong balance sheets.
UFP TECHNOLOGIES INC (UFPT) is a mid-cap growth stock in the Medical Equipment & Supplies industry. The rating according to our strategy based on Peter Lynch is 87% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.
Company Description: UFP Technologies, Inc. is a designer and custom manufacturer of comprehensive solutions for medical devices, sterile packaging, and other engineered custom products. Its single-use and single-patient devices and components are used in a range of medical devices and packaging for minimally invasive surgery, infection prevention, surfaces and support, wound care, wearables, orthopedic soft goods, and orthopedic implants. It is also providing engineered products and components. Typical applications of its products include military uniform and gear components, automotive interior trim, air filtration, and protective cases and inserts. It also engineers' components for automotive use, such as interior trim and structural applications. These components are produced using a compression molding process. It also develops and manufactures single-use safe patient handling systems, thermoformed, heat-sealed implantable medical device components, custom-engineered foam and thermoplastic components.
The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy's tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy's criteria.
| P/E/GROWTH RATIO: | PASS |
| SALES AND P/E RATIO: | NEUTRAL |
| INVENTORY TO SALES: | PASS |
| EPS GROWTH RATE: | PASS |
| TOTAL DEBT/EQUITY RATIO: | PASS |
| FREE CASH FLOW: | NEUTRAL |
| NET CASH POSITION: | NEUTRAL |
Detailed Analysis of UFP TECHNOLOGIES INC
HCA HEALTHCARE INC (HCA) is a large-cap growth stock in the Healthcare Facilities industry. The rating according to our strategy based on Peter Lynch is 72% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.
Company Description: HCA Healthcare, Inc. is a health care services company. The Company owns, manages or operates hospitals, freestanding surgery centers, freestanding emergency care facilities, urgent care facilities, walk-in clinics, diagnostic and imaging centers, radiation and oncology therapy centers, comprehensive rehabilitation and physical therapy centers, physician practices, home health, hospice, outpatient physical therapy home and community-based services providers, and various other facilities. It also operates outpatient health care facilities, which include freestanding ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs), freestanding emergency care facilities, urgent care facilities, walk-in clinics, diagnostic and imaging centers, comprehensive rehabilitation and physical therapy centers, radiation and oncology therapy centers, physician practices and other facilities. It operates about 186 hospitals, comprised of 178 general, acute care hospitals, six behavioral hospitals and two rehabilitation hospitals.
The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy's tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy's criteria.
| P/E/GROWTH RATIO: | PASS |
| SALES AND P/E RATIO: | PASS |
| INVENTORY TO SALES: | PASS |
| EPS GROWTH RATE: | PASS |
| TOTAL DEBT/EQUITY RATIO: | FAIL |
| FREE CASH FLOW: | NEUTRAL |
| NET CASH POSITION: | NEUTRAL |
Detailed Analysis of HCA HEALTHCARE INC
CVS HEALTH CORP (CVS) is a large-cap value stock in the Retail (Drugs) industry. The rating according to our strategy based on Peter Lynch is 72% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.
Company Description: CVS Health Corporation is a health solutions company. The Company operates in four segments: Health Care Benefits, Health Services, Pharmacy & Consumer Wellness, and Corporate/Other. Its Health Care Benefits segment offer a range of traditional, voluntary and consumer-directed health insurance products and related services, including medical, pharmacy, dental and behavioral health plans, medical management capabilities, Medicare Advantage and Medicare supplement plans, and Medicaid health care management services. Its Health Services segment provides a full range of pharmacy benefit management solutions, delivers health care services in its medical clinics, virtually, and in the home, and offers provider enablement solutions. The Pharmacy & Consumer Wellness segment dispenses prescriptions in its retail pharmacies and through its infusion operations, provides ancillary pharmacy services, including pharmacy patient care programs, diagnostic testing and vaccination administration.
The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy's tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy's criteria.
| SALES: | PASS |
| YIELD COMPARED TO THE S&P 500: | PASS |
| YIELD ADJUSTED P/E/GROWTH (PEG) RATIO: | PASS |
| TOTAL DEBT/EQUITY RATIO: | FAIL |
| FREE CASH FLOW: | NEUTRAL |
| NET CASH POSITION: | NEUTRAL |
Detailed Analysis of CVS HEALTH CORP
About Peter Lynch: Perhaps the greatest mutual fund manager of all-time, Lynch guided Fidelity Investment's Magellan Fund to a 29.2 percent average annual return from 1977 until his retirement in 1990, almost doubling the S&P 500's 15.8 percent yearly return over that time. Lynch's common sense approach and quick wit made him one of the most quoted investors on Wall Street. ("Go for a business that any idiot can run -- because sooner or later, any idiot probably is going to run it," is one of his many pearls of wisdom.) Lynch's bestseller One Up on Wall Street is something of a "stocks for the everyman/everywoman", breaking his approach down into easy-to-understand concepts.
About Validea: Validea is aninvestment researchservice that follows the published strategies of investment legends. Validea offers both stock analysis and model portfolios based on gurus who have outperformed the market over the long-term, including Warren Buffett, Benjamin Graham, Peter Lynch and Martin Zweig. For more information about Validea, click here
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
