National HealthCare Corporation (NHC) Key Metrics
NHC valuation today
Trailing 12 months · as of October 17, 2026- Market cap
- $3.80B
- Enterprise value
- $3.34B
- P/E (TTM)
- 27.0 10-yr median 19.9
- Forward P/E
- 9.9
- PEG ratio
- 0.82
- Price / sales
- 2.4 10-yr median 1.2
- Price / book
- 3.1 10-yr median 1.6
- EV / EBITDA
- 14.3 10-yr median 9.2
- Dividend yield
- 1.10% $2.68 a year
- Beta
- 0.61
NHC key metrics, 2016–2025
Fiscal year ended December 31, 2025 · U.S. dollarsNHC valuation Price multiples at each fiscal year-end price.
NHC returns How much profit the business earns on the capital it uses.
NHC per-share figures Results divided by the shares outstanding at year-end.
NHC financial health Debt, liquidity and how easily interest is covered.
NHC efficiency & capital use Working capital cycle and where the cash goes.
NHC valuation history
NHC returns on capital
Net income (ROE, ROA) or after-tax operating income (ROIC) divided by the average of the opening and closing balance.
NHC debt vs cash
Debt includes short- and long-term borrowings and, where reported, lease liabilities.
NHC cash returned to shareholders
NHC price vs earnings per share
NHC key metrics
2016–2025| 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Valuation | ||||||||||
| Market capitalization | $2.14B | $1.68B | $1.42B | $919.1M | $1.05B | $1.02B | $1.33B | $1.20B | $927.4M | $1.15B |
| Enterprise value | $1.92B | $1.68B | $1.29B | $862.5M | $958.0M | $891.3M | $1.36B | $1.09B | $856.0M | $1.14B |
| P/E ratio | 17.9 | 16.5 | 21.3 | 40.9 | 7.6 | 24.4 | 19.5 | 20.3 | 16.5 | 22.8 |
| Price / sales | 1.4 | 1.3 | 1.2 | 0.9 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.3 | 1.2 | 1.0 | 1.2 |
| Price / book | 2.0 | 1.7 | 1.6 | 1.1 | 1.2 | 1.3 | 1.7 | 1.6 | 1.3 | 1.7 |
| Price / free cash flow | 14.4 | 21.1 | 17.1 | — | 45.5 | 5.6 | 18.0 | 17.4 | 14.9 | 40.8 |
| Price / operating cash flow | 11.6 | 15.6 | 12.8 | 105.1 | 16.8 | 5.0 | 13.3 | 12.1 | 9.8 | 12.7 |
| EV / sales | 1.3 | 1.3 | 1.1 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 1.4 | 1.1 | 0.9 | 1.2 |
| EV / EBITDA | 9.0 | 9.2 | 9.8 | 12.6 | 5.0 | 9.3 | 10.2 | 9.0 | 7.0 | 9.3 |
| EV / free cash flow | 12.9 | 21.0 | 15.5 | — | 41.7 | 4.9 | 18.4 | 15.9 | 13.8 | 40.4 |
| Earnings yield | 5.6% | 6.1% | 4.7% | 2.4% | 13.2% | 4.1% | 5.1% | 4.9% | 6.1% | 4.4% |
| Free cash flow yield | 6.9% | 4.8% | 5.9% | −2.3% | 2.2% | 17.8% | 5.6% | 5.7% | 6.7% | 2.5% |
| Dividend yield | 1.8% | 2.2% | 2.5% | 3.8% | 3.1% | 3.1% | 2.4% | 2.5% | 3.0% | 2.2% |
| Shareholder yield (dividends + buybacks) | 2.5% | 3.0% | 2.7% | 4.8% | 3.1% | 3.1% | 2.4% | 2.6% | 3.0% | 2.9% |
| Share price at fiscal year-end | $137.09 | $107.56 | $92.42 | $59.50 | $67.94 | $66.41 | $86.43 | $78.45 | $60.94 | $75.79 |
| Per share | ||||||||||
| Revenue per share | $97.01 | $83.21 | $74.24 | $69.55 | $65.57 | $63.81 | $64.87 | $64.34 | $63.34 | $60.73 |
| Earnings per share | $7.67 | $6.53 | $4.34 | $1.45 | $8.99 | $2.72 | $4.44 | $3.87 | $3.69 | $3.32 |
| Operating cash flow per share | $11.83 | $6.88 | $7.23 | $0.57 | $4.05 | $13.22 | $6.52 | $6.46 | $6.21 | $5.98 |
| Free cash flow per share | $9.50 | $5.11 | $5.42 | −$1.39 | $1.49 | $11.80 | $4.80 | $4.51 | $4.08 | $1.86 |
| Cash per share | $19.76 | $13.86 | $14.54 | $11.82 | $16.61 | $21.04 | $13.20 | $12.04 | $13.02 | $10.81 |
| Book value per share | $68.31 | $62.84 | $59.10 | $56.60 | $58.57 | $51.74 | $50.69 | $48.13 | $46.18 | $44.03 |
| Tangible book value per share | $45.25 | $50.63 | $47.69 | $45.25 | $47.20 | $50.35 | $49.32 | $46.75 | $43.86 | $41.72 |
| Dividends per share | $2.47 | $2.37 | $2.31 | $2.24 | $2.08 | $2.08 | $2.03 | $1.96 | $1.86 | $1.70 |
| Capex per share | $2.33 | $1.77 | $1.81 | $1.96 | $2.56 | $1.42 | $1.72 | $1.95 | $2.13 | $4.12 |
| Debt per share | $5.57 | $13.77 | $6.07 | $8.15 | $10.81 | $12.62 | $15.11 | $5.12 | $8.33 | $10.09 |
| Shares outstanding | 15.6M | 15.6M | 15.4M | 15.4M | 15.4M | 15.4M | 15.4M | 15.2M | 15.2M | 15.2M |
| Change in shares outstanding | +0.3% | +1.4% | −0.5% | +0.2% | +0.3% | +0.1% | +0.8% | +0.1% | +0.1% | +4.9% |
| Returns & profitability | ||||||||||
| Return on equity (ROE) | 11.7% | 10.8% | 7.5% | 2.5% | 16.3% | 5.3% | 9.0% | 8.2% | 8.2% | 7.8% |
| Return on invested capital (ROIC) | 10.6% | 7.3% | 5.3% | 2.9% | 6.4% | 5.2% | 5.3% | 7.0% | 6.3% | 5.9% |
| Return on assets (ROA) | 7.9% | 7.2% | 5.2% | 1.7% | 10.0% | 3.2% | 5.8% | 5.4% | 5.1% | 4.7% |
| Return on tangible assets | 10.3% | 7.6% | 5.9% | 2.0% | 11.3% | 3.1% | 5.4% | 5.6% | 5.3% | 4.8% |
| Free cash flow margin | 9.8% | 6.1% | 7.3% | −2.0% | 2.3% | 18.5% | 7.4% | 7.0% | 6.4% | 3.1% |
| Income quality (OCF / net income) | 1.54 | 1.05 | 1.66 | 0.39 | 0.45 | 4.85 | 1.47 | 1.67 | 1.68 | 1.80 |
| Financial health | ||||||||||
| Total debt | $87.1M | $214.8M | $93.4M | $125.9M | $166.7M | $194.0M | $232.0M | $78.1M | $126.7M | $153.5M |
| Cash & short-term investments | $309.2M | $216.2M | $223.6M | $182.6M | $256.0M | $323.4M | $202.8M | $183.5M | $198.2M | $164.3M |
| Net debt | −$222.1M | −$1.4M | −$130.2M | −$56.7M | −$89.4M | −$129.4M | $29.3M | −$105.4M | −$71.5M | −$10.9M |
| Debt / equity | 0.08 | 0.22 | 0.10 | 0.14 | 0.18 | 0.24 | 0.30 | 0.11 | 0.18 | 0.23 |
| Debt / assets | 0.06 | 0.14 | 0.07 | 0.10 | 0.12 | 0.14 | 0.18 | 0.07 | 0.12 | 0.14 |
| Net debt / EBITDA | −1.04 | −0.01 | −0.99 | −0.83 | −0.47 | −1.35 | 0.22 | −0.87 | −0.59 | −0.09 |
| Current ratio | 1.77 | 1.81 | 1.89 | 1.79 | 1.62 | 1.62 | 1.75 | 2.04 | 2.12 | 1.93 |
| Quick ratio | 1.74 | 1.77 | 1.86 | 1.75 | 1.59 | 1.59 | 1.71 | 1.99 | 2.08 | 1.88 |
| Interest coverage | 20.1 | 20.7 | 176.3 | 56.7 | 60.3 | 34.4 | 15.6 | 11.9 | 11.1 | 15.4 |
| Working capital | $194.5M | $189.6M | $191.8M | $156.0M | $163.4M | $175.5M | $146.3M | $164.1M | $174.2M | $139.9M |
| Invested capital | $846.7M | $978.7M | $778.5M | $817.6M | $813.6M | $665.8M | $807.8M | $627.9M | $631.3M | $658.7M |
| Tangible asset value | $713.7M | $792.8M | $735.1M | $702.2M | $733.1M | $776.9M | $758.1M | $712.3M | $667.5M | $634.4M |
| Net current asset value | −$3.7M | −$116.9M | $5.9M | −$44.0M | −$68.3M | −$107.1M | −$166.5M | −$25.7M | −$64.5M | −$127.0M |
| Graham number | $108.58 | $96.12 | $76.00 | $43.02 | $108.85 | $56.31 | $71.17 | $64.73 | $61.94 | $57.38 |
| Graham net-net per share | −$2.21 | −$14.02 | −$5.93 | −$8.84 | −$10.52 | −$10.98 | −$15.14 | −$5.68 | −$8.00 | −$11.96 |
| Capital allocation | ||||||||||
| Dividends paid | $38.7M | $37.0M | $35.6M | $34.6M | $32.0M | $31.9M | $31.2M | $29.8M | $28.2M | $25.8M |
| Share buybacks (net) | $14.7M | $13.5M | $2.5M | $9.9M | $836,000 | $53,000 | $872,000 | $867,000 | $0 | $8.2M |
| Dividend payout ratio | 32.2% | 36.3% | 53.2% | 154.2% | 23.1% | 76.2% | 45.8% | 50.6% | 50.2% | 51.0% |
| Dividends + buybacks / free cash flow | 36.0% | 63.3% | 45.7% | — | 142.9% | 17.6% | 43.5% | 44.7% | 45.5% | 120.2% |
| Capex / revenue | 2.4% | 2.1% | 2.4% | 2.8% | 3.9% | 2.2% | 2.6% | 3.0% | 3.4% | 6.8% |
| Capex / operating cash flow | 19.7% | 25.7% | 25.1% | 345.5% | 63.1% | 10.8% | 26.4% | 30.2% | 34.2% | 68.9% |
| Capex / depreciation | 0.81 | 0.66 | 0.66 | 0.75 | 0.97 | 0.52 | 0.62 | 0.71 | 0.76 | 1.60 |
| Stock-based compensation / revenue | 0.3% | 0.3% | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.3% | 0.3% | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.1% |
| R&D / revenue | — | — | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | — | — | — |
| SG&A / revenue | 3.0% | 3.3% | 3.6% | 3.8% | 4.0% | 4.1% | 4.1% | 4.2% | 4.2% | 4.5% |
| Efficiency | ||||||||||
| Days sales outstanding | 33.0 | 34.4 | 33.5 | 33.4 | 33.6 | 33.7 | 34.8 | 35.8 | 34.9 | 35.2 |
| Days of inventory on hand | 3.3 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 4.2 | 4.8 | 4.9 | 4.6 | 4.6 | 4.7 | 5.0 |
| Days payables outstanding | 9.6 | 10.1 | 9.3 | 10.5 | 11.9 | 12.0 | 11.9 | 11.2 | 11.0 | 12.9 |
| Cash conversion cycle (days) | 26.8 | 28.1 | 27.9 | 27.1 | 26.4 | 26.6 | 27.5 | 29.2 | 28.5 | 27.3 |
| Receivables turnover | 11.04 | 10.60 | 10.91 | 10.91 | 10.86 | 10.84 | 10.49 | 10.20 | 10.47 | 10.36 |
| Payables turnover | 38.17 | 36.29 | 39.41 | 34.79 | 30.55 | 30.45 | 30.67 | 32.61 | 33.09 | 28.31 |
| Inventory turnover | 109.43 | 98.74 | 98.43 | 87.58 | 76.72 | 75.12 | 79.52 | 79.70 | 78.04 | 72.70 |
| Asset turnover | 0.99 | 0.92 | 0.88 | 0.80 | 0.73 | 0.74 | 0.84 | 0.90 | 0.88 | 0.87 |
| Average receivables | $137.4M | $122.4M | $104.7M | $98.4M | $93.1M | $90.5M | $94.9M | $96.1M | $92.1M | $89.1M |
| Average payables | $24.1M | $22.3M | $18.1M | $19.7M | $21.8M | $20.0M | $19.3M | $17.9M | $17.3M | $19.4M |
| Average inventory | $8.4M | $8.2M | $7.2M | $7.8M | $8.7M | $8.1M | $7.5M | $7.3M | $7.3M | $7.5M |
| Intangibles / total assets | 23.6% | 12.5% | 13.4% | 13.7% | 12.5% | 1.6% | 1.6% | 1.9% | 3.2% | 3.2% |
Computed from NHC's annual financial statements (latest annual report filed February 26, 2026) and the closing share price on each fiscal year-end, adjusted for stock splits. Figures in U.S. dollars; data from EODHD. Averages use the opening and closing balance of each year.
NHC valuation and financial ratios
At the end of fiscal 2025 (December 31, 2025), National HealthCare traded at 17.9 times earnings, against a 10-year median of 19.9. Based on the latest twelve months, the trailing P/E is 27.0 and the forward P/E is 9.9. National HealthCare earned a return on equity of 11.7% and a return on invested capital of 10.6% in fiscal 2025. It ended the year with $87.1 million of debt and $309.2 million in cash and short-term investments, a net cash position of $222.1 million. It returned $53.4 million to shareholders: $38.7 million in dividends and $14.7 million in share buybacks, 36% of free cash flow.
See the NHC income statement, the NHC chart for price history, or the NHC stock overview for the latest quote and news.
NHC key metrics FAQ
What is National HealthCare's P/E ratio?
National HealthCare's trailing P/E ratio is 27.0 based on the last twelve months of earnings (as of October 17, 2026), and its forward P/E is 9.9. At the end of fiscal 2025 it was 17.9, compared with a 10-year median of 19.9.
What is National HealthCare's EV/EBITDA?
National HealthCare's enterprise value was 9.0 times EBITDA at the end of fiscal 2025 (enterprise value $1.9 billion, EBITDA $213.7 million); the current EV/EBITDA is 14.3.
What is National HealthCare's return on equity?
National HealthCare's return on equity (ROE) was 11.7% in fiscal 2025: net income of $120.0 million on average shareholders' equity of $1.0 billion.
What is National HealthCare's ROIC?
National HealthCare's return on invested capital was 10.6% in fiscal 2025, using after-tax operating income divided by average debt plus equity minus cash.
How much debt does National HealthCare have?
National HealthCare had total debt of $87.1 million at the end of fiscal 2025, a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08 and more cash than debt.
What is National HealthCare's dividend yield?
National HealthCare's forward dividend yield is 1.10%. National HealthCare paid $38.7 million in dividends in fiscal 2025 ($2.47 per share), a payout ratio of 32.2%.
Does National HealthCare buy back its shares?
Yes. National HealthCare spent $14.7 million on net share repurchases in fiscal 2025 Shares outstanding changed +0.3% over the year, to 15.6M..
What is National HealthCare's free cash flow yield?
National HealthCare generated $148.6 million of free cash flow in fiscal 2025, a free cash flow yield of 6.9% on its market value at year-end ($2.1 billion).
What is National HealthCare's current ratio?
National HealthCare's current ratio was 1.77 at the end of fiscal 2025: current assets were 1.77 times current liabilities.