Moody’s upgrades HCA, debt

Moody's Investors Service said it upgraded HCA Holdings, Inc.'s corporate family rating to Ba3 from B1 and probability of default rating to Ba3-PD from B1-PD.

The ratings on the company's existing debt instruments at HCA Holdings and HCA, Inc. were also upgraded.

The outlook was changed to stable from positive.

"The upgrade of HCA's corporate family rating to Ba3 reflects our expectation that the company will continue to employ financial policies that include returns to shareholder but limit increases in leverage," Moody's senior vice president Dean Diaz said in a news release.

"HCA has shown that it is willing to maintain a disciplined approach to using incremental debt to fund shareholder initiatives while using its healthy cash flow to continue to invest in growth and maintain leverage within a manageable range."

"The upgrade also reflects our expectation that HCA will improve its profit margins and cash flow in the near term as benefits of the Affordable Care Act result in lower bad debt expense and improved cash collection," Diaz added in the release.

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