An Income Strategy That Doesn’t Require Dividends
The upcoming November election is shaping up to be an important and entertaining event. Investors are paying close attention, concerned about the impact the new president might have on the economy. But I believe no matter who wins in November, the incoming president will have limited impact on the economy and the stock market (at least at first).
As we’ve seen in the past, presidential decisions can create confidence that leads to a bull market, or they can lead to a sense of malaise and a bear market. But it takes time for sentiment to develop and influence the market. The market can ignore the president for a time as traders find other things to focus on, like earnings or economic growth.
#-ad_banner-#Right now, the economy is just too big to turn suddenly, and industries are too highly regulated for a new president to simply step in and make sweeping changes.
After the election the new president will need time to enact policies, and it will take even more time before they really kick in. Overall, we probably have a year or more after the election to evaluate whether the president will be bullish, bearish or neutral for markets.
Health care has become one of the most regulated areas in recent years, and I believe current regulations will change slowly. That means some health care stocks are operating in steady environments, which should allow for consistent growth. Many of these stocks are currently buys, including a recommendation I recently delivered to my premium Maximum Income subscribers, HCA Holdings (NYSE: HCA).
HCA operates 168 acute care hospitals with about 44,000 licensed beds, 116 freestanding surgery centers, 66 urgent care facilities and 55 freestanding emergency rooms. The company also operates about 830 physician clinics and employs 35,000 medical staff. These are all highly regulated operations, and management understands the current regulatory environment. That understanding should allow the company to grow revenue even if insurers and government programs reduce reimbursement rates, something that is a constant threat in the industry.
One way HCA grows revenue is by increasing its market share. Despite the company’s geographically diversified footprint, just 4% to 5% of all inpatient care delivered in the country today is provided by HCA facilities. The company has significant room for expansion in large markets where it already has facilities, like San Jose, Miami, Houston and Dallas. It also has plenty of opportunities for expansion into new markets.
While HCA has operations near London, only about 3.3% of 2015 revenue came from international operations, so it is still very much a U.S.-based operation. But Great Britain’s National Health Service is even more regulated than the U.S. market, so HCA’s ability to operate in that environment suggests the company could adapt and thrive in the United States under any almost any conditions.
Recent data indicates HCA is growing in a number of areas: same-facility admissions were up 1.6% in the past year, while same-facility emergency room visits increased 6.9%, and the number of outpatient surgical procedures grew by 4.4%. Most importantly, revenue was up 6% over that time.
Over the past 12 months, HCA reported a 24.3% increase in earnings compared to the prior 12 months. Analysts expect the company to continue growing earnings in the long term, albeit at a slower pace. Current estimates show analysts are expecting growth to average 10.9% a year for the next five years. This is nearly double the pace of growth expected in health care spending, which is projected to average about 5.8%.
About 55% of HCA’s revenue last year came from privately insured patients, who can access HCA facilities through many of the nation’s largest insurers. Government insurance programs, which account for the remaining 45% of HCA’s revenue, could account for significant growth in at least two ways.
These programs could result in increased admissions as the number of insured continues to grow. HCA estimates the markets include 3.9 million individuals eligible to enroll in Medicaid or other Affordable Care Act programs, but who have not enrolled yet. HCA could also increase its presence in states that have expanded Medicaid to meet increased demand. Just 15% of the company’s hospital beds are currently in these markets, leaving plenty of room for expansion or acquisitions to meet the demands of newly insured patients.
Given the strong growth prospects, HCA’s stock is undervalued. Shares are currently priced at about 0.8 times sales. The long-term average price-to-sales (P/S) ratio for companies in the health care facilities industry is 1.1, indicating HCA is potentially undervalued by more than 20%.
Bottom line: HCA is a stable, attractive long-term investment no matter how you look at it, and it’s a buy at current prices.
There’s just one problem, though… the company doesn’t pay a dividend.
But I have a solution…
Assuming you were to buy 100 shares of HCA, I recently showed traders how they could skim $30 in income from the market immediately. Now, that may not sound like much, but this trade will only last 36 days. And we can repeat the process again and again to earn an annual yield of nearly 4% — on a stock that doesn’t pay any dividends.
Last year, my Maximum Income readers could have earned up to $46,360 in extra income from stocks just like HCA — more than they ever could from dividends alone.
You’re probably thinking we took on an excessive amount of risk to do this, but I assure you we didn’t. In fact, it’s one of the most conservative income strategies out there.
If you’d like to learn more about my strategy and how you can get started earning as much as $850 today, simply visit this link.