Critical Contrast: Community Health Systems (NYSE:CYH) & Ardent Health Partners (NYSE:ARDT)

Ardent Health Partners (NYSE:ARDT) and Community Health Systems (NYSE:CYH) are both medical companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, dividends, valuation, institutional ownership, profitability, risk and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Ardent Health Partners and Community Health Systems, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ardent Health Partners	0	1	9	2	3.08
Community Health Systems	0	4	2	0	2.33

Ardent Health Partners presently has a consensus target price of $21.91, suggesting a potential upside of 17.29%. Community Health Systems has a consensus target price of $5.18, suggesting a potential upside of 26.73%. Given Community Health Systems’ higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Community Health Systems is more favorable than Ardent Health Partners.

Profitability

This table compares Ardent Health Partners and Community Health Systems’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ardent Health Partners	N/A	N/A	N/A
Community Health Systems	-0.79%	N/A	-0.94%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Ardent Health Partners and Community Health Systems”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ardent Health Partners	$5.63 billion	0.47	$53.90 million	N/A	N/A
Community Health Systems	$12.55 billion	0.05	-$133.00 million	($0.95)	-4.31

Ardent Health Partners has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Community Health Systems.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

85.0% of Community Health Systems shares are held by institutional investors. 9.9% of Community Health Systems shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Ardent Health Partners beats Community Health Systems on 7 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Ardent Health Partners

Ardent Health Partners, Inc. owns and operates a network of hospitals and clinics that provides a range of healthcare services in the United States. It operates acute care hospitals, including rehabilitation hospitals and surgical hospitals. The company was founded in 2001 and is based in Brentwood, Tennessee. Ardent Health Partners, Inc. is a subsidiary of EGI-AM Investments, L.L.C.

About Community Health Systems

Community Health Systems, Inc. owns, leases, and operates general acute care hospitals in the United States. It offers general acute care, emergency room, general and specialty surgery, critical care, internal medicine, obstetrics, diagnostic, psychiatric, and rehabilitation services, as well as skilled nursing and home care services. The company also provides outpatient services at primary care practices, urgent care centers, free-standing emergency departments, ambulatory surgery centers, imaging and diagnostic centers, and direct-to-consumer virtual health visits. The company was incorporated in 1996 and is headquartered in Franklin, Tennessee.