DaVita (DVA) Competitors

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

Which has more risk & volatility, DVA or LH?

DaVita has a beta of 0.9, meaning that its stock price is 10% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Laboratory Co. of America has a beta of 1.05, meaning that its stock price is 5% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer DVA or LH?

Laboratory Co. of America received 119 more outperform votes than DaVita when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 63.93% of users gave Laboratory Co. of America an outperform vote while only 61.46% of users gave DaVita an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
DaVita	Outperform Votes 496 61.46%	Underperform Votes 311 38.54%
Laboratory Co. of America	Outperform Votes 615 63.93%	Underperform Votes 347 36.07%

Do insiders & institutionals believe in DVA or LH?

90.1% of DaVita shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 95.9% of Laboratory Co. of America shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.0% of DaVita 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 is poised for long-term growth.

Is DVA or LH more profitable?

DaVita has a net margin of 6.53% compared to Laboratory Co. of America's net margin of 3.43%. DaVita's return on equity of 88.18% beat Laboratory Co. of America's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
DaVita	6.53%	88.18%	4.88%
Laboratory Co. of America	3.43%	15.27%	7.13%

Do analysts rate DVA or LH?

DaVita presently has a consensus target price of $161.80, indicating a potential downside of 1.46%. Laboratory Co. of America has a consensus target price of $255.92, indicating a potential upside of 6.45%. Given Laboratory Co. of America's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Laboratory Co. of America is more favorable than DaVita.

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)	4 Hold rating(s)	10 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.80

Does the media refer more to DVA or LH?

In the previous week, Laboratory Co. of America had 8 more articles in the media than DaVita. MarketBeat recorded 20 mentions for Laboratory Co. of America and 12 mentions for DaVita. DaVita's average media sentiment score of 1.45 beat Laboratory Co. of America's score of 1.25 indicating that DaVita is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
DaVita	11 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Laboratory Co. of America	18 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 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	$12.14B	1.11	$691.53M	$9.27	17.71
Laboratory Co. of America	$12.16B	1.65	$418M	$5.17	46.50

Summary

Laboratory Co. of America beats DaVita on 13 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.