At a glance
National HealthCare Corporation is worth $3.32B, about 28 times its fiscal 2025 earnings. Revenue grew 16.1% to $1.52B in fiscal 2025, with 7.9% kept as profit; over 5 years it has grown 8.1% a year. It pays a 1.24% dividend yield, raised every year for at least 9 years, and returned $219.3M to shareholders in dividends and buybacks over FY2021–FY2025. The stock returned +76.2% over the past year with dividends reinvested and +28.7% a year over five years, against +11.5% and +11.7% for the S&P 500. At its worst it fell 32.1% in the 2020 crash (S&P 500: 33.7%) and 17.9% in the 2022 bear market (S&P 500: 24.5%), and was back at its earlier high 44 months and 13 months after the lows.
The business in plain English
National HealthCare Corp (NHC), founded in 1971, provides senior care and post-hospital care in 9 states, mostly in the Southeast and Midwest. Its core business is skilled nursing facilities: nursing homes that offer round-the-clock nursing and therapy, often after a hospital stay. As of December 31, 2025, NHC had 80 of them with 10,329 licensed beds. It owned 43, leased 29 and managed 8 for other operators. It also ran 26 assisted living and 9 independent living facilities, 3 behavioral health (mental health) hospitals, 34 homecare agencies and 33 hospice agencies.
Most revenue comes from billing for that care. Much of it is paid by Medicare (the federal health program mainly for older Americans), Medicaid (a joint federal-state program for people with low incomes) and other insurers. NHC also runs its own insurance plan for Medicare-eligible nursing home patients, NHC Advantage, which had about 1,300 members as of December 31, 2025. In 2025, inpatient services brought in about $1.32 billion, or 86.8% of the $1.52 billion total. Homecare services brought in about $154 million, or 10.2%.
Health care services made up 96.8% of 2025 net operating revenue. The rest came from management fees, accounting services, insurance and rent. NHC typically charges 6% of a managed facility's revenue, and it leases 10 properties it owns to other operators.
Price history
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NHC +76.2% over the year to Oct 28, 2026, total return with dividends reinvested.
How it makes money
By business segment
| Inpatient Services Segment | $1.32B | 86.8% |
| Homecare Services Segment | $154.1M | 10.2% |
Latest results
- In Q2 FY2026 (ended Jun 30, 2026), revenue was $408.0M, up 8.8% from a year earlier, and net income was $40.3M (+70.0%).
- For fiscal 2025, revenue was $1.52B (+16.1% year over year; +8.1% a year from FY2020 to FY2025) with a 7.9% net margin.
Financial health check
| Revenue growth a year (FY2020–FY2025) | +8.1% good |
|---|---|
| Operating margin | 8.5% watch |
| Free cash flow margin | 9.8% watch |
| Return on equity (FY2025) | 11.2% watch |
| Return on assets (FY2025) | 7.9% watch |
| Net cash (cash minus debt) | $39.2M good |
| Fiscal year | Revenue | Net income | Free cash flow |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2020 | $1.03B | $41.9M | $181.4M |
| FY2021 | $1.07B | $138.6M | $23.0M |
| FY2022 | $1.09B | $22.4M | $-21.5M |
| FY2023 | $1.14B | $66.8M | $83.3M |
| FY2024 | $1.31B | $101.9M | $79.7M |
| FY2025 | $1.52B | $120.0M | $148.6M |
Valuation snapshot
| Market value | $3.32B |
|---|---|
| P/E ratio | 27.6 |
| Dividend yield | 1.24% |
Rank among 1514 US companies
Market value at each year end
National HealthCare’s market value went from $1.15B at the end of 2016 to $3.32B on Oct 28, 2026, about 2.9 times as much; since the end of 2025 it is up 56%.
Show as a table
| Year end | Market value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 28, 2026 | $3.32B | +55.9% |
| 2025 | $2.13B | +28.1% |
| 2024 | $1.66B | +17.3% |
| 2023 | $1.42B | +55.1% |
| 2022 | $913.0M | -12.9% |
| 2021 | $1.05B | +2.7% |
| 2020 | $1.02B | -23.0% |
| 2019 | $1.32B | +10.8% |
| 2018 | $1.20B | +29.0% |
| 2017 | $926.1M | -19.3% |
| 2016 | $1.15B |
Price behavior
| YTD | 1 yr | 3 yr | 5 yr | 10 yr | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NHC price data to Oct 28, 2026 | +56.1% | +76.2% | +50.5% | +28.7% | +15.7% |
Show as a table
| Year | Price data |
|---|---|
| 2026 (to date) | +56.1% |
| 2025 | +30.4% |
| 2024 | +19.0% |
| 2023 | +60.8% |
| 2022 | -9.4% |
| 2021 | +5.4% |
| 2020 | -20.7% |
| 2019 | +13.0% |
| 2018 | +32.4% |
| 2017 | -17.3% |
| 2016 | +26.1% |
| 2015 | +1.2% |
| 2014 | +19.3% |
| 2013 | +17.7% |
| 2012 | +17.6% |
| 2011 | -6.8% |
| 2010 | +31.9% |
| 2009 | -26.8% |
| 2008 | +0.3% |
| 2007 | -4.9% |
| 2006 | +49.8% |
| 2008 financial crisis stocks fell Oct 9, 2007 – Mar 9, 2009 | Lost 34.1% over that stretch · deepest drop along the way 35.2%, back to its old high 31.5 months after the low |
|---|---|
| 2020 COVID crash stocks fell Feb 19, 2020 – Mar 23, 2020 | Lost 17.6% over that stretch · deepest drop along the way 32.1%, back to its old high 44 months after the low |
| 2022 bear market stocks fell Jan 3, 2022 – Oct 12, 2022 | Lost 11.6% over that stretch · deepest drop along the way 17.9%, back to its old high 12.7 months after the low |
Insider activity
Form 4 filings from 2025-10-31 to 2026-10-31 (25 read): 1 open-market purchases ($175K) and 19 sales ($8.9M).
| Date | Insider | Type | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 11, 2026 | Brian F Kidd SVP, CFO | sell | $1.5M |
| May 21, 2026 | Richard F Jr Laroche Director | sell | $1.5M |
| Jun 22, 2026 | Emil E Hassan Director | sell | $1.2M |
| Sep 22, 2026 | Vicki L Dodson Sr.VP Patient Srvcs | sell | $1.1M |
| Aug 25, 2026 | David R. Gifford Director | sell | $401K |
Who owns it
Large shareholders (13G filings)
| BlackRock, Inc. | 11.6% | Sep 30, 2025 |
| Morgan Stanley | 7.1% | Dec 31, 2025 |
| Vanguard Portfolio Management | 5.11% | Mar 31, 2026 |
| First Trust Portfolios L.P. | 4.56% | Sep 30, 2026 |
ETFs with the most weight in NHC
| SOVF Sovereign's Capital Flourish Fund | 1.37% |
| XHS SPDR S&P Health Care Services ETF | 0.87% |
| ROSC Hartford Multifactor Small Cap ETF | 0.81% |
| FYT First Trust Small Cap Value AlphaDEX Fund | 0.41% |
| OASC OneAscent Small Cap Core ETF | 0.41% |
| XSHQ Invesco S&P SmallCap Quality ETF | 0.39% |
| AGNG Global X Aging Population ETF | 0.31% |
| PPTY US Diversified Real Estate ETF | 0.29% |
What could go wrong
- Uncertainty over its National Health Investors lease. As of December 31, 2025, NHC leased 29 of its 80 skilled nursing facilities. Its annual report flags its lease with landlord National Health Investors as a source of uncertainty for future operations.
- Heavy reliance on Medicare and Medicaid. A large share of revenue comes from government programs whose rates change often. Medicare's automatic 2% cut, first applied in 2013, has been extended through 2030. State Medicaid cuts could also hurt results.
- Staffing shortages and minimum staffing rules. Hiring and keeping nurses and caregivers is costly. Federal minimum staffing mandates and state staffing rules could raise labor costs, and NHC may have to admit fewer patients if it cannot meet them.
- Hospice payment caps could force repayments. Medicare caps hospice payments in two ways. One cap limits inpatient care to 20% of patient days. If any NHC hospice goes over a cap, it must repay Medicare the excess.
- Pay tied to quality scores, not volume. Medicare withholds 2 percentage points of nursing home payments and pays most of it out as rewards to higher-quality facilities. Home health payments can rise or fall by up to 5% on quality.
- Lawsuits and possible uninsured liabilities. NHC is a defendant in significant lawsuits, which are common in nursing care, and they could bring large uninsured liabilities. An insurance company NHC owns provides liability coverage for substantially all its facilities.
Recent events
- Other company announcement
- Quarterly results released
- Major agreement signed; Major agreement ended; Acquisition or sale of assets completed; New debt or financial obligation; Investor presentation or announcement
- Major agreement signed; Major agreement ended; New debt or financial obligation
- Major agreement signed
- Shareholder vote results
- Quarterly results released
- Other company announcement
- Major agreement signed; Major agreement ended; Investor presentation or announcement
- Quarterly results released
For income and retirement investors
NHC has raised its dividend at least 9 years in a row through fiscal 2025, and the streak may be longer. Dividends per share grew from $2.08 in 2020 to $2.53 in 2025, about 4% a year. The 2025 dividend used about 32% of earnings and 26% of free cash flow (cash from operations after capital spending). The yield was a modest 1.24% as of October 28, 2026. Buybacks totaled about $41 million over fiscal 2021 to 2025, yet the share count rose 1.5% between November 2021 and August 2026.
The shares have fallen hard in downturns. They dropped about 35% in the 2008 financial crisis and took about 32 months from their low to regain their old high. In the 2020 COVID crash they fell 32% and needed 44 months to recover. In the 2022 market slump they fell 18% and recovered in about 13 months. As a single stock, NHC carries more risk than a diversified fund.
Questions investors ask
How does National HealthCare make money?
Mostly by caring for patients. In 2025, 96.8% of NHC's net operating revenue came from health care services, led by its skilled nursing facilities, with much of it paid by Medicare, Medicaid and other insurers. The inpatient services segment produced 86.8% of the $1.52 billion total and homecare services 10.2%. The rest came from managing facilities for other operators, usually for 6% of their revenue, plus accounting services, insurance and rent on 10 properties it leases out.
Does National HealthCare raise its dividend every year?
Yes, for at least 9 years in a row through fiscal 2025, and the streak may be longer. Dividends per share rose from $2.08 in 2020 to $2.53 in 2025, about 4% a year. The 2025 dividend used about 32% of earnings and 26% of free cash flow (cash from operations after capital spending). Still, NHC's annual report (10-K) warns that it may not be able to pay or maintain dividends, and says failing to do so would hurt its stock price.
What is NHC's dividend yield?
NHC's dividend yield was 1.24% as of October 28, 2026, which is modest for an income stock. A yield falls when the share price rises faster than the dividend. NHC's share price rose about 76% in the year to that date, while dividends per share grew about 4% a year from 2020 to 2025. On the same date, the stock traded at about 27.6 times 2025 earnings (its price-to-earnings ratio), and the company had a market value of about $3.3 billion.
How has National HealthCare stock performed over the long term?
It has risen strongly over long periods, with deep drops along the way. As of October 28, 2026, the share price had gained about 15.7% a year over 10 years and 28.7% a year over 5 years. It fell 35% in the 2008 financial crisis. It also fell 32% in the 2020 COVID crash, after which it took 44 months to recover. Calendar-year results ranged from a 20.7% loss in 2020 to a 60.8% gain in 2023. Past returns do not predict future ones.
How are National HealthCare's nursing homes rated?
Above the industry average on the Five-Star Quality Rating System from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which scores nursing homes from one to five stars. As of December 31, 2025, 50 of NHC's 80 skilled nursing facilities, or 62.5%, had four or five stars, versus 38.6% across the industry. NHC's average rating was 3.83 stars, against 2.95 for the industry. Quality also matters financially: Medicare withholds 2 percentage points of nursing home payments and pays most of it out based on quality.