Chemed (CHE) Competitors

Chemed (NYSE:CHE) and Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) are both medical companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, media sentiment, valuation, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, profitability, dividends, earnings and community ranking.

Which has more volatility and risk, CHE or LH?

Chemed has a beta of 0.47, indicating that its share price is 53% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Laboratory Co. of America has a beta of 1.06, indicating that its share price is 6% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has stronger valuation and earnings, CHE or LH?

Laboratory Co. of America has higher revenue and earnings than Chemed. Chemed 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
Chemed	$2.26B	3.69	$272.51M	$19.79	28.04
Laboratory Co. of America	$12.16B	1.64	$418M	$5.17	46.12

Does the media refer more to CHE or LH?

In the previous week, Laboratory Co. of America had 5 more articles in the media than Chemed. MarketBeat recorded 8 mentions for Laboratory Co. of America and 3 mentions for Chemed. Chemed's average media sentiment score of 1.73 beat Laboratory Co. of America's score of 1.38 indicating that Chemed is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Chemed	3 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
Laboratory Co. of America	7 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts rate CHE or LH?

Chemed presently has a consensus target price of $641.50, suggesting a potential upside of 15.58%. Laboratory Co. of America has a consensus target price of $260.54, suggesting a potential upside of 9.27%. Given Chemed's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Chemed is more favorable than Laboratory Co. of America.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Chemed	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
Laboratory Co. of America	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	12 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.88

Is CHE or LH a better dividend stock?

Chemed pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.4%. Laboratory Co. of America pays an annual dividend of $2.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. Chemed pays out 10.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Laboratory Co. of America pays out 55.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Chemed has increased its dividend for 16 consecutive years.

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in CHE or LH?

Laboratory Co. of America received 287 more outperform votes than Chemed when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 64.08% of users gave Laboratory Co. of America an outperform vote while only 63.48% of users gave Chemed an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Chemed	Outperform Votes 332 63.48%	Underperform Votes 191 36.52%
Laboratory Co. of America	Outperform Votes 619 64.08%	Underperform Votes 347 35.92%

Do insiders & institutionals hold more shares of CHE or LH?

95.9% of Chemed shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 95.9% of Laboratory Co. of America shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.3% of Chemed shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.9% of Laboratory Co. of America shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Is CHE or LH more profitable?

Chemed has a net margin of 12.69% compared to Laboratory Co. of America's net margin of 3.43%. Chemed's return on equity of 27.86% beat Laboratory Co. of America's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Chemed	12.69%	27.86%	19.12%
Laboratory Co. of America	3.43%	15.27%	7.13%

Summary

Chemed and Laboratory Co. of America tied by winning 11 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks.