Encompass Health Corporation vs PACS Group, Inc., two Medical Care stocks. A side-by-side on valuation, growth, margins, returns, and what each price is betting.
Economically these are landlord and tenant models of post-acute care: Encompass builds and owns rehabilitation hospitals, capital-intensive expansion currently running free cash negative 7.2%; PACS operates skilled-nursing facilities with a lighter 0.24-turn balance sheet, converting 7.2% of its price into cash, the mirror image almost to the digit. Margins favor Encompass, 10% net against 4.5%; returns on equity favor PACS, 23.4% against 18.4%. The market prices PACS dearer, 27 times earnings against 16.9, paying for the asset-light cash machine over the asset-heavy compounder. Ten turns of multiple separate two answers to the same demographic tailwind; the balance sheets, not the beds, are what is being priced.
Comparison updated 2026-07-10.
| Metric | EHC | PACS |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $101.30 | $41.88 |
| Market cap | $10.2B | $6.8B |
| Sector | Medical Care | Medical Care |
| Stage | Mature | Growth |
| Implied growth (priced in) | +8.8% | +7.9% |
| P/E | 16.9 | 27.0 |
| P/B | 3.08 | 6.51 |
| P/S | 1.68 | 1.25 |
| EV/EBITDA | 37.7 | 17.8 |
| Revenue growth | +10.1% | +23.6% |
| Operating margin | — | 8.4% |
| Net margin | 10.0% | 4.5% |
| Return on equity | 18.4% | 23.4% |
| Return on assets | 8.3% | 4.3% |
| Return on invested capital | — | 21.0% |
| FCF yield | -7.2% | 7.2% |
| Dividend yield | 0.7% | 0.5% |
| Debt / equity | 0.78 | 0.24 |
| Current ratio | 1.17 | 0.99 |
| Altman Z (solvency) | 2.40 | 2.01 |
| Piotroski F (quality) | 5 / 9 | 7 / 9 |
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The stronger value is highlighted per metric where one is strictly better on that single number; it is not an overall verdict on either company. For informational and research purposes only. Not investment advice. Not a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security. boothcheck is not a registered investment adviser. Past performance does not guarantee future results.