National Research (NRC) AI Stock Analysis

• Market Cap: $281.61M
• Dividend Yield: 3.93%
• Average Volume (3M): 89.79K
• Price to Earnings (P/E): 16.0
• Beta (1Y): 0.76
• Revenue Growth: -4.08%
• EPS Growth: -36.73%
• Country: US
• Employees: 368
• Sector: Healthcare
• Sector Strength: 45
• Industry: Medical - Healthcare Information Services
• EPS (TTM): >-0.01
• Shares Outstanding: 23,063,517
• 10 Day Avg. Volume: 82,723
• 30 Day Avg. Volume: 89,786
• PEG Ratio: -1.01
• Price to Book (P/B): 13.38
• Price to Sales (P/S): 2.92
• P/FCF Ratio: 21.82
• Enterprise Value/Market Cap: 1.62
• Enterprise Value/Revenue: 3.25
• Enterprise Value/Gross Profit: 5.61
• Enterprise Value/Ebitda: 13.35
• 1Y Price Target: $15.00
• Price Target Upside: 22.85% Upside
• Rating Consensus: Hold
• Number of Analyst Covering: 1

• Rating: 51 Neutral
• Price Target: $15.00 ▲(22.85% Upside)

The overall stock score of 51 reflects significant financial challenges, including declining revenue and high leverage, which weigh heavily on the score. Technical indicators suggest a neutral trend, while the valuation is moderately attractive due to a reasonable P/E ratio and a decent 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

NRC generates revenue primarily through subscription-based services and fees for its market research and consulting solutions. Key revenue streams include the sale of proprietary surveys to healthcare organizations, allowing them to measure patient satisfaction and employee engagement. Additionally, NRC earns income from customized research projects and ongoing analytics services that help clients interpret and act on survey data. Significant partnerships with healthcare providers, academic institutions, and industry associations enhance NRC's market reach and credibility, driving further earnings through collaborative research initiatives and shared data insights.

National Research Financial Statement Overview

Summary

National Research shows solid profitability and cash generation capabilities, but faces challenges in revenue growth and high leverage. Efficient cost management supports profitability, yet declining revenue and a high debt load pose risks. The company should focus on revenue growth strategies while managing financial leverage to ensure long-term stability.

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	TTM	Dec 2024	Dec 2023	Dec 2022	Dec 2021	Dec 2020
Income Statement
Total Revenue	140.31M	143.06M	148.58M	151.57M	147.95M	133.28M
Gross Profit	81.34M	86.13M	92.56M	94.52M	95.60M	84.09M
EBITDA	34.19M	41.31M	45.98M	51.83M	56.66M	50.78M
Net Income	17.93M	24.78M	30.97M	31.80M	37.47M	37.26M
Balance Sheet
Total Assets	141.39M	132.54M	122.44M	130.46M	157.54M	133.42M
Cash, Cash Equivalents and Short-Term Investments	5.27M	4.23M	6.65M	25.03M	54.36M	34.69M
Total Debt	80.96M	62.68M	38.96M	22.18M	26.55M	30.61M
Total Liabilities	120.06M	101.25M	73.48M	58.43M	72.20M	69.11M
Stockholders Equity	21.33M	31.28M	48.95M	72.03M	85.34M	64.31M
Cash Flow
Free Cash Flow	9.27M	19.18M	22.33M	26.43M	40.83M	36.65M
Operating Cash Flow	21.31M	34.63M	38.11M	36.27M	46.34M	40.64M
Investing Cash Flow	-16.87M	-20.28M	-15.78M	-9.84M	-8.51M	-3.72M
Financing Cash Flow	350.00K	-16.76M	-40.71M	-55.58M	-18.16M	-15.50M

National Research Technical Analysis

• Technical Analysis Sentiment: Negative
• Last Price: 12.21
• 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 12.21 is below the 20-day moving average (MA) of 14.56, below the 50-day MA of 14.54, and below the 200-day MA of 14.70, indicating a bearish trend. The MACD of -0.72 indicates Positive momentum. The RSI at 26.70 is Positive, neither overbought nor oversold. The STOCH value of 5.68 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	74 Outperform	$329.25M	19.35	11.03%	7.82%	1.79%	8.48%
OPRX	68 Neutral	$348.09M	―	-8.21%	―	25.90%	46.13%
SLP	63 Neutral	$322.44M	47.47	-41.49%	0.37%	20.01%	-750.59%
TBRG	62 Neutral	$312.24M	―	-6.81%	―	3.42%	77.05%
Sector *	51 Neutral	$7.86B	-0.30	-43.30%	2.27%	22.53%	-2.21%
NRC	51 Neutral	$281.61M	15.99	58.01%	3.93%	-4.08%	-36.73%
HCAT	49 Neutral	$208.31M	―	-28.42%	―	5.55%	-0.99%

National Research Corporate Events

National Research Appoints New CFO Shane Harrison

On August 25, 2025, National Research Corporation announced the appointment of Shane Harrison as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, effective September 25, 2025. Harrison, with over 25 years of experience in finance and strategic transactions, is expected to drive NRC Health’s growth and profitability. His compensation package includes a base salary, signing bonus, and restricted shares, with vesting conditions tied to his continued employment and potential change in control scenarios.