DaVita (DVA) Competitors

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

Which has preferable valuation & earnings, LH or DVA?

DaVita has lower revenue, but higher earnings 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
Laboratory Co. of America	$13.01B	1.41	$746M	$8.82	24.92
DaVita	$12.82B	0.88	$936.34M	$10.74	13.17

Which has more risk & volatility, LH or DVA?

Laboratory Co. of America has a beta of 0.99, indicating that its share price is 1% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, DaVita has a beta of 1.04, indicating that its share price is 4% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do institutionals & insiders believe in LH or DVA?

95.9% of Laboratory Co. of America shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 90.1% of DaVita shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.9% of Laboratory Co. of America shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.0% of DaVita shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Does the media favor LH or DVA?

In the previous week, DaVita had 3 more articles in the media than Laboratory Co. of America. MarketBeat recorded 30 mentions for DaVita and 27 mentions for Laboratory Co. of America. Laboratory Co. of America's average media sentiment score of 0.92 beat DaVita's score of 0.83 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	15 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	6 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
DaVita	16 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	9 Neutral mention(s)	4 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts rate LH or DVA?

Laboratory Co. of America presently has a consensus price target of $268.77, suggesting a potential upside of 22.29%. DaVita has a consensus price target of $166.33, suggesting a potential upside of 17.60%. Given Laboratory Co. of America's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Laboratory Co. of America is more favorable than DaVita.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Laboratory Co. of America	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	11 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.87
DaVita	1 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00

Is LH or DVA 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
Laboratory Co. of America	5.73%	15.29%	7.01%
DaVita	7.31%	115.48%	4.94%

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in LH or DVA?

Laboratory Co. of America received 129 more outperform votes than DaVita when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 64.01% of users gave Laboratory Co. of America an outperform vote while only 61.13% of users gave DaVita an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Laboratory Co. of America	Outperform Votes 626 64.01%	Underperform Votes 352 35.99%
DaVita	Outperform Votes 497 61.13%	Underperform Votes 316 38.87%

Summary

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