FRESENIUS MEDICAL CARE AG vs NATIONAL HEALTHCARE CORP, two Medical Care stocks. A side-by-side on valuation, growth, margins, returns, and what each price is betting.
Both balance sheets are effectively debt-free, unusual twice over in capital-hungry care services, so the pair reduces to what each clean sheet supports: Fresenius Medical runs the world's dialysis infrastructure at a 11.7% operating margin, National HealthCare runs Tennessee-centered skilled nursing at 8.5%. The market prices the global utility at 12.7 times earnings and the regional operator at 25.5, double the multiple for a tenth the scale. Fresenius' 21.5% free-cash figure quadruples NHC's 5.3%, with a bigger dividend, 1.7% against 1.3%. Returns are modest at both. The premium on the small one prices its balance-sheet purity and local stability; the discount on the big one prices dialysis reimbursement politics, at a rate that looks like fear.
Comparison updated 2026-07-10.
| Metric | FMS | NHC |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $23.25 | $200.71 |
| Market cap | $13.6B | $3.2B |
| Sector | Medical Care | Medical Care |
| Stage | Mature | Mature |
| Implied growth (priced in) | — | +13.2% |
| P/E | 12.7 | 25.5 |
| P/B | 0.87 | 2.89 |
| P/S | 0.64 | 2.07 |
| EV/EBITDA | 3.3 | 17.6 |
| Revenue growth | +1.5% | +11.0% |
| Operating margin | 11.7% | 8.4% |
| Net margin | 6.1% | 8.1% |
| Return on equity | 8.3% | 11.3% |
| Return on assets | 3.8% | 8.1% |
| Return on invested capital | 10.1% | 9.5% |
| FCF yield | 21.4% | 5.3% |
| Dividend yield | 1.7% | 1.3% |
| Debt / equity | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Current ratio | 1.26 | 1.86 |
| Altman Z (solvency) | 1.76 | 6.47 |
| Piotroski F (quality) | 8 / 9 | 6 / 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.