DaVita (DVA) Competitors

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

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in DVA or LH?

Laboratory Co. of America received 126 more outperform votes than DaVita when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 63.99% of users gave Laboratory Co. of America an outperform vote while only 61.39% of users gave DaVita an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
DaVita	Outperform Votes 496 61.39%	Underperform Votes 312 38.61%
Laboratory Co. of America	Outperform Votes 622 63.99%	Underperform Votes 350 36.01%

Which has more risk & volatility, DVA or LH?

DaVita has a beta of 0.94, meaning that its stock price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Laboratory Co. of America has a beta of 1.07, meaning that its stock price is 7% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media refer more to DVA or LH?

In the previous week, DaVita had 12 more articles in the media than Laboratory Co. of America. MarketBeat recorded 26 mentions for DaVita and 14 mentions for Laboratory Co. of America. Laboratory Co. of America's average media sentiment score of 1.38 beat DaVita's score of 0.92 indicating that Laboratory Co. of America is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
DaVita	16 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	6 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Laboratory Co. of America	11 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has stronger valuation and earnings, DVA or LH?

DaVita has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Laboratory Co. of America. DaVita 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
DaVita	$12.82B	0.89	$936.34M	$10.74	13.25
Laboratory Co. of America	$13.01B	1.61	$746M	$8.82	28.33

Do analysts prefer DVA or LH?

DaVita currently has a consensus price target of $162.80, indicating a potential upside of 14.38%. Laboratory Co. of America has a consensus price target of $265.31, indicating a potential upside of 6.18%. Given DaVita's higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe DaVita is more favorable than Laboratory Co. of America.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
DaVita	1 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
Laboratory Co. of America	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	12 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.88

Is DVA or LH more profitable?

DaVita has a net margin of 7.31% compared to Laboratory Co. of America's net margin of 5.73%. DaVita's return on equity of 115.48% beat Laboratory Co. of America's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
DaVita	7.31%	115.48%	4.94%
Laboratory Co. of America	5.73%	15.29%	7.01%

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of DVA or LH?

90.1% of DaVita shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 95.9% of Laboratory Co. of America shares are held by institutional investors. 2.0% of DaVita shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.9% of Laboratory Co. of America shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Laboratory Co. of America beats DaVita on 12 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.