ASX 200 healthcare share Healius Ltd (ASX: HLS) has materially outperformed the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) over the past year.
Shares in the pathology and imaging provider are up 0.7% in afternoon trade on Wednesday, changing hands for $1.45 apiece.
This sees the Healius share price up 19.8% since this time last year, racing ahead of the 5.5% 12-month gains posted by the benchmark Aussie index.
And according to Red Leaf Securities' John Athanasiou, Healius is well-placed to keep outperforming in the year ahead (courtesy of The Bull).
Why this ASX 200 healthcare share is a buy
"Healius is a diagnostic pathology and imaging company," said Athanasiou, who has a buy recommendation on the ASX 200 healthcare share.
The first reason you may want to consider buying the stock is for the upcoming special dividend.
Athanasiou said:
The sale of Lumas Imaging to Affinity Equity Partners for $965 million will be completed on May 1, 2025. The company intends to pay a special fully franked dividend of about $300 million, or 41.3 cents a share.
Commenting on that divestment when it was first announced last September, Healius CEO Paul Anderson said, "The sale of Lumus is a positive outcome for Healius shareholders, our staff, patients and referrers."
Anderson added that, "The sale will provide Healius with both the resources and time to continue to improve our pathology operations and the scope to return cash to shareholders."
Which is the second reason Red Leaf Securities' Athanasiou is bullish on the outlook for the ASX 200 healthcare share.
He noted:
The company is focusing on strengthening its core pathology operations. Growth in test volumes, driven by an ageing population and increased demand for complex diagnostics, should support margin expansion – particularly as Healius invests in automation and artificial intelligence to reduce costs.
And the third reason you may want to add Healius to your ASX share portfolio is the government's ongoing Medicare indexation reform program, which is forecast to deliver some $900 million in additional benefits to Aussies in the upcoming year.
"The company is also well positioned to benefit from potential Medicare indexation reforms," Athanasiou said.
He concluded, "While short term earnings have been under pressure, the combination of capital returns, structural demand and efficiency gains present an attractive medium-term opportunity."
The ASX 200 healthcare share held its investor day presentation on 27 March.
Drilling into those efficiency gains on the day, the Motley Fool's James Mickleboro noted:
Healius has already identified $15 million to $20 million in cost savings – mainly from removing unallocated corporate expenses – and has several programs in place to reduce labour, consumables, and logistics costs across the network.
