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 community ranking, profitability, analyst recommendations, earnings, dividends, risk, institutional ownership, media sentiment and valuation.

Which has more volatility & risk, DVA or LH?

DaVita has a beta of 0.99, meaning that its stock price is 1% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Laboratory Co. of America has a beta of 1.12, meaning that its stock price is 12% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in DVA or LH?

Laboratory Co. of America received 127 more outperform votes than DaVita when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 64.03% of users gave Laboratory Co. of America an outperform vote while only 61.16% of users gave DaVita an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
DaVita	Outperform Votes 496 61.16%	Underperform Votes 315 38.84%
Laboratory Co. of America	Outperform Votes 623 64.03%	Underperform Votes 350 35.97%

Does the media prefer DVA or LH?

In the previous week, DaVita had 1 more articles in the media than Laboratory Co. of America. MarketBeat recorded 15 mentions for DaVita and 14 mentions for Laboratory Co. of America. Laboratory Co. of America's average media sentiment score of 1.39 beat DaVita's score of 1.23 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	13 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Laboratory Co. of America	11 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

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 insiders & institutionals have more ownership in 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 insiders. Comparatively, 0.9% of Laboratory Co. of America shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Do analysts recommend DVA or LH?

DaVita currently has a consensus target price of $166.33, indicating a potential upside of 8.91%. Laboratory Co. of America has a consensus target price of $269.92, indicating a potential upside of 16.52%. Given Laboratory Co. of America's stronger consensus rating and higher possible 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)	4 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)	10 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.86

Which has preferable valuation & 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	0.95	$936.34M	$10.74	14.22
Laboratory Co. of America	$13.01B	1.49	$746M	$8.82	26.26

Summary

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