Fintel reports that on September 23, 2026, BMO Capital initiated coverage of Ardent Health (NYSE:ARDT) with a Market Perform recommendation.

On the day of the rating action, September 23, 2026, the stock closed at $10.64, compared to a pre-action close of $10.95 on September 22, 2026. Ardent Health recently recorded a one-week price change of -0.75% from its baseline close of $10.72 on September 16, 2026. Over a one-month period, the stock experienced a price change of -3.18% from its baseline close of $10.99 on August 21, 2026.

This individual rating from BMO Capital stands alongside broader market consensus data. As of September 15, 2026, the current consensus target mean for the stock was $13.11, which represents a consensus target revision of 0.00% from the prior consensus target mean of $13.11 recorded on August 28, 2026. The current consensus target median was $13.26 as of September 15, 2026, representing an implied change of +23.19%.

In its latest quarterly earnings report on August 4, 2026, Ardent Health reported an actual EPS of 0.12, which fell short of the EPS estimate of 0.1848, resulting in an EPS surprise of -35.06%. The company's actual revenue was $1,622,245,000.00, compared to the estimated revenue of $1,621,453,914.00.

Looking at aggregate analyst sentiment, the current recommendation period as of September 1, 2026, shows a total of 18 recommendations, consisting of 5 strong buy, 7 buy, 5 hold, 1 sell, and 0 strong sell ratings. This breakdown represents 66.7% positive, 27.8% hold, and 5.6% negative recommendations. These figures remain unchanged from the prior recommendation period on August 1, 2026, which also reported 18 total recommendations with 5 strong buy, 7 buy, 5 hold, 1 sell, and 0 strong sell ratings. In other recent analyst activity, Leerink Partners maintained its Outperform rating on September 18, 2026, keeping its recommendation at Outperform.

Recent analyst actions

Fintel is one of the most comprehensive investing research platforms available to individual investors, traders, financial advisors, and small hedge funds.

Our data covers the world, and includes fundamentals, analyst reports, ownership data and fund sentiment, options sentiment, insider trading, options flow, unusual options trades, and much more. Additionally, our exclusive stock picks are powered by advanced, backtested quantitative models for improved profits.

This story originally appeared on Fintel.