03:05 PM EDT, 06/12/2024 (MT Newswires) -- CFRA, an independent research provider, has provided MT Newswires with the following research alert. Analysts at CFRA have summarized their opinion as follows:

We lift our 12-month target $36 to $154, 17.4x our 2024 EPS view, which we lower by $0.03 to $8.86. We raise our 2025 estimate by $2.10 to $9.29. Our target reflects a premium to THC's recent historical average to reflect significant debt reduction after the recent sale of nine hospitals (at attractive valuations, in our opinion) across California and South Carolina. Supported by strong volume growth, improving staffing levels, and some expectations of interest rate cuts before year-end, in our view, hospital operators have outperformed the broader health care sector year-to-date. Despite modest near-term revenue growth expectations (i.e., flat to -1% in 2024 and +4% in 2025), we think moderation in wage cost growth, including contract labor (2.9% as a percentage of salary, wages, and benefits in Q1 2024 vs. ~6% in Q1 2023), supports improving margin expectations for THC in 2024-2025.