Providence Service (PRSC) Competitors

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) and Providence Service (NASDAQ:PRSC) are both medical companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, community ranking, profitability, valuation, media sentiment, analyst recommendations, earnings, risk and institutional ownership.

Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership in LH or PRSC?

95.9% of Laboratory Co. of America shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.9% of Laboratory Co. of America shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 7.5% of Providence Service shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Does the media favor LH or PRSC?

In the previous week, Laboratory Co. of America had 9 more articles in the media than Providence Service. MarketBeat recorded 9 mentions for Laboratory Co. of America and 0 mentions for Providence Service. Laboratory Co. of America's average media sentiment score of 1.41 beat Providence Service's score of 0.00 indicating that Laboratory Co. of America is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Overall Sentiment
Laboratory Co. of America	Positive
Providence Service	Neutral

Is LH or PRSC more profitable?

Laboratory Co. of America has a net margin of 3.43% compared to Providence Service's net margin of 0.23%. Providence Service's return on equity of 17.59% beat Laboratory Co. of America's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Laboratory Co. of America	3.43%	15.27%	7.13%
Providence Service	0.23%	17.59%	8.74%

Do analysts prefer LH or PRSC?

Laboratory Co. of America presently has a consensus target price of $260.54, indicating a potential upside of 6.61%. Given Laboratory Co. of America's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Laboratory Co. of America is more favorable than Providence Service.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Laboratory Co. of America	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	12 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.88
Providence Service	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	0.00

Which has more volatility and risk, LH or PRSC?

Laboratory Co. of America has a beta of 1.06, indicating that its stock price is 6% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Providence Service has a beta of 0.84, indicating that its stock price is 16% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in LH or PRSC?

Laboratory Co. of America received 343 more outperform votes than Providence Service when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 65.71% of users gave Providence Service an outperform vote while only 64.08% of users gave Laboratory Co. of America an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Laboratory Co. of America	Outperform Votes 619 64.08%	Underperform Votes 347 35.92%
Providence Service	Outperform Votes 276 65.71%	Underperform Votes 144 34.29%

Which has stronger earnings & valuation, LH or PRSC?

Laboratory Co. of America has higher revenue and earnings than Providence Service. Providence Service is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Laboratory Co. of America, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Laboratory Co. of America	$12.16B	1.68	$418M	$5.17	47.27
Providence Service	$1.51B	0.06	$970K	$1.65	3.60

Summary

Laboratory Co. of America beats Providence Service on 15 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.