National Research (NRC) AI Stock Analysis

• Market Cap: $286.64M
• Dividend Yield: 3.84%
• Average Volume (3M): 97.13K
• Price to Earnings (P/E): 16.4
• Beta (1Y): 0.58
• Revenue Growth: -4.08%
• EPS Growth: -36.42%
• Country: US
• Employees: 368
• Sector: Healthcare
• Sector Strength: 38
• Industry: Medical - Healthcare Information Services
• EPS (TTM): >-0.01
• Shares Outstanding: 22,785,421
• 10 Day Avg. Volume: 94,123
• 30 Day Avg. Volume: 97,134
• PEG Ratio: -6.95
• Price to Book (P/B): 10.79
• Price to Sales (P/S): 0.00
• P/FCF Ratio: 21.27
• Enterprise Value/Market Cap: 1.32
• Enterprise Value/Revenue: 0.91
• Enterprise Value/Gross Profit: 6.63
• Enterprise Value/Ebitda: 3.00
• 1Y Price Target: $17.00
• Price Target Upside: 35.14% Upside
• Rating Consensus: Moderate Buy
• Number of Analyst Covering: 0

• Rating: 59 Neutral
• Price Target: $13.00 ▲(3.34%Upside)

National Research's stock score is primarily impacted by its solid profitability and cash generation, but faces significant challenges due to its high leverage and declining revenue. Technical analysis indicates bearish trends, contributing to a lower score. Valuation is a relative strength due to a reasonable P/E ratio and attractive dividend yield.

National Research Business Overview & Revenue Model

Company Description

National Research Corporation provides analytics and insights that facilitate measurement and enhancement of the patient and employee experience in the United States and Canada. Its portfolio of subscription-based solutions provides actionable information and analysis to healthcare organizations across a range of mission-critical, constituent-related elements, including patient experience, service recovery, care transitions, health risk assessments, employee engagement, reputation management, and brand loyalty. The company also offers market insights solutions that allow the tracking of awareness, perception, and consistency of healthcare brands; assessment of competitive differentiators; and enhanced segmentation tools to evaluate needs, wants, and behaviors of communities through real-time competitive assessments and enhanced segmentation tools. In addition, it provides experience solutions, such as patient and resident experience, workforce engagement, health risk assessments, transitions, and improvement tools. Further, the company offers health risk assessment solutions that enable clients to segment populations and manage care for those who are most at risk, engage individuals, enhance preventative care, and manage wellness programs; and transitions solutions, which enable organizations to identify and manage high-risk patients to reduce readmissions, enhance patient satisfaction and support safe care transitions. Additionally, it provides transparency solutions that allow healthcare organizations to share picture of their organization and ensure content informs in consumer decision-making; and governance solutions for not-for-profit hospital and health system boards of directors, executives, and physician leadership. The company serves integrated health systems, post-acute providers, and payer organizations. National Research Corporation was founded in 1981 and is headquartered in Lincoln, Nebraska.

How the Company Makes Money

National Research Corporation generates revenue primarily through subscription-based services and contracts with healthcare organizations. Its key revenue streams include the sale of healthcare analytics solutions, patient and employee experience measurement tools, and customized market insights. NRC partners with hospitals, clinics, and other healthcare entities, offering them access to proprietary benchmarking data and actionable insights, which are integral for enhancing patient care and operational efficiency. The company's revenue is further bolstered by long-term client relationships and a strong reputation in the healthcare sector, enabling it to maintain a steady stream of recurring income.

National Research Financial Statement Overview

Summary

NRC demonstrates solid profitability and cash generation, but faces challenges with declining revenue and high leverage. The income statement shows moderate profitability with a net profit margin of 17.1%, but there is a decline in revenue and net income. The balance sheet indicates high leverage with a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.2, which poses financial risks. Cash flow is strong with a positive free cash flow, but it has decreased compared to the previous period.

Income Statement

The company's income statement reveals moderate profitability with a net profit margin of 17.1% for TTM. However, there has been a decline in revenue and net income compared to previous periods, indicating potential challenges in maintaining growth. The gross profit margin of 59.2% and EBIT margin of 24.8% suggest efficient cost management, but shrinking revenue is a concern.

Balance Sheet

The balance sheet shows a significant amount of debt with a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.2, indicating high leverage. The equity ratio of 21.9% is relatively low, suggesting limited equity buffer. Return on equity is 81.6%, driven by high leverage rather than strong equity growth, highlighting potential financial risk.

Cash Flow

The cash flow statement is strong, with a positive free cash flow and an operating cash flow to net income ratio of 1.2, indicating good cash generation relative to earnings. Despite this, free cash flow has decreased compared to the previous period, reflecting challenges in maintaining cash flow growth.

Breakdown	Dec 2024	Dec 2023	Dec 2022	Dec 2021	Dec 2020
Income Statement
Total Revenue	143.06M	148.58M	151.57M	147.95M	133.28M
Gross Profit	86.13M	92.56M	94.52M	95.60M	84.09M
EBITDA	41.31M	45.98M	51.83M	56.66M	50.78M
Net Income	24.78M	30.97M	31.80M	37.47M	37.26M
Balance Sheet
Total Assets	132.54M	122.44M	130.46M	157.54M	133.42M
Cash, Cash Equivalents and Short-Term Investments	4.23M	6.65M	25.03M	54.36M	34.69M
Total Debt	62.68M	38.96M	22.18M	26.55M	30.61M
Total Liabilities	101.25M	73.48M	58.43M	72.20M	69.11M
Stockholders Equity	31.28M	48.95M	72.03M	85.34M	64.31M
Cash Flow
Free Cash Flow	19.18M	22.33M	26.43M	40.83M	36.65M
Operating Cash Flow	34.63M	38.11M	36.27M	46.34M	40.64M
Investing Cash Flow	-20.28M	-15.78M	-9.84M	-8.51M	-3.72M
Financing Cash Flow	-16.76M	-40.71M	-55.58M	-18.16M	-15.50M

National Research Technical Analysis

• Technical Analysis Sentiment: Negative
• Last Price: 12.58
• 50DMA: Negative
• 100DMA: Negative
• 200DMA: Negative
• MACD: Positive
• RSI: Positive
• STOCH: Positive

Evaluating momentum and price trends is crucial in stock analysis to make informed investment decisions. For NRC, the sentiment is Negative. The current price of 12.58 is below the 20-day moving average (MA) of 14.64, below the 50-day MA of 15.08, and below the 200-day MA of 15.67, indicating a bearish trend. The MACD of -0.76 indicates Positive momentum. The RSI at 27.78 is Positive, neither overbought nor oversold. The STOCH value of 10.32 is Positive, not indicating any strong overbought or oversold conditions. Overall, these indicators collectively point to a Negative sentiment for NRC.

National Research Peers Comparison

Name	Overall Rating	Market Cap	P/E Ratio	ROE	Dividend Yield	Revenue Growth	EPS Growth
SPOK	78 Outperform	$381.14M	22.40	11.03%	6.75%	1.79%	8.48%
OPRX	67 Neutral	$231.19M	―	-12.90%	―	20.66%	17.97%
HCAT	64 Neutral	$245.00M	―	-19.80%	―	4.88%	37.87%
TBRG	63 Neutral	$312.79M	―	-10.98%	―	3.15%	61.71%
NRC	59 Neutral	$286.64M	16.39	58.28%	3.84%	-4.08%	-36.42%
SLP	56 Neutral	$257.63M	47.47	-41.49%	1.84%	20.01%	-750.59%
Sector *	51 Neutral	$7.35B	0.50	-65.61%	2.47%	15.28%	1.44%

National Research Corporate Events

National Research Shareholders Approve 2025 Incentive Plan

On May 7, 2025, National Research Corporation’s shareholders approved the 2025 Omnibus Incentive Plan, which replaces the 2006 Equity Incentive Plan and the 2004 Non-Employee Director Stock Plan. During the same annual meeting, Donald M. Berwick and Stephen H. Lockhart were elected as directors, KPMG LLP’s appointment as the independent registered public accounting firm was ratified, and the compensation of the company’s named executive officers was approved.