Quest Diagnostics (DGX) Competitors

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) and Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) are both large-cap medical companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, media sentiment, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk, community ranking, profitability and dividends.

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

95.9% of Laboratory Co. of America shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 88.1% of Quest Diagnostics shares are held by institutional investors. 0.9% of Laboratory Co. of America shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.8% of Quest Diagnostics shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Which has more volatility and risk, LH or DGX?

Laboratory Co. of America has a beta of 1.06, suggesting that its stock price is 6% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Quest Diagnostics has a beta of 0.9, suggesting that its stock price is 10% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts rate LH or DGX?

Laboratory Co. of America presently has a consensus price target of $261.77, indicating a potential upside of 4.96%. Quest Diagnostics has a consensus price target of $174.00, indicating a potential upside of 6.90%. Given Quest Diagnostics' higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Quest Diagnostics is more favorable than Laboratory Co. of America.

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
Quest Diagnostics	0 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.73

Does the media favor LH or DGX?

In the previous week, Quest Diagnostics had 28 more articles in the media than Laboratory Co. of America. MarketBeat recorded 44 mentions for Quest Diagnostics and 16 mentions for Laboratory Co. of America. Laboratory Co. of America's average media sentiment score of 0.98 beat Quest Diagnostics' score of 0.75 indicating that Laboratory Co. of America is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Laboratory Co. of America	9 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Quest Diagnostics	14 Very Positive mention(s)	5 Positive mention(s)	19 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is LH or DGX more profitable?

Quest Diagnostics has a net margin of 8.82% compared to Laboratory Co. of America's net margin of 3.43%. Laboratory Co. of America's return on equity of 15.27% beat Quest Diagnostics' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Laboratory Co. of America	3.43%	15.27%	7.13%
Quest Diagnostics	8.82%	15.25%	6.92%

Which has stronger earnings and valuation, LH or DGX?

Quest Diagnostics has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Laboratory Co. of America. Quest Diagnostics 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	1.72	$418M	$5.17	48.24
Quest Diagnostics	$9.25B	1.96	$854M	$7.44	21.88

Does the MarketBeat Community favor LH or DGX?

Laboratory Co. of America received 81 more outperform votes than Quest Diagnostics when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 64.12% of users gave Laboratory Co. of America an outperform vote while only 49.40% of users gave Quest Diagnostics an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Laboratory Co. of America	Outperform Votes 620 64.12%	Underperform Votes 347 35.88%
Quest Diagnostics	Outperform Votes 539 49.40%	Underperform Votes 552 50.60%

Is LH or DGX a better dividend stock?

Laboratory Co. of America pays an annual dividend of $2.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. Quest Diagnostics pays an annual dividend of $3.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. Laboratory Co. of America pays out 55.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Quest Diagnostics pays out 40.3% 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. Quest Diagnostics has raised its dividend for 14 consecutive years. Quest Diagnostics is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

Laboratory Co. of America beats Quest Diagnostics on 12 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks.