Laboratory Co. of America (LH) Competitors

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

Which has more volatility and risk, DGX or LH?

Quest Diagnostics has a beta of 0.89, indicating that its share price is 11% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Laboratory Co. of America has a beta of 1.05, indicating that its share price is 5% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has higher valuation & earnings, DGX or LH?

Quest Diagnostics has higher earnings, but lower revenue 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
Quest Diagnostics	$9.25B	1.94	$854M	$7.44	21.56
Laboratory Co. of America	$12.16B	1.62	$418M	$5.17	45.50

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer DGX or LH?

Laboratory Co. of America received 83 more outperform votes than Quest Diagnostics when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 63.93% of users gave Laboratory Co. of America an outperform vote while only 49.26% of users gave Quest Diagnostics an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Quest Diagnostics	Outperform Votes 532 49.26%	Underperform Votes 548 50.74%
Laboratory Co. of America	Outperform Votes 615 63.93%	Underperform Votes 347 36.07%

Is DGX or LH a better dividend stock?

Quest Diagnostics pays an annual dividend of $3.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.9%. Laboratory Co. of America pays an annual dividend of $2.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. Quest Diagnostics pays out 40.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Laboratory Co. of America pays out 55.7% 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 13 consecutive years. Quest Diagnostics is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Does the media refer more to DGX or LH?

In the previous week, Quest Diagnostics had 7 more articles in the media than Laboratory Co. of America. MarketBeat recorded 23 mentions for Quest Diagnostics and 16 mentions for Laboratory Co. of America. Laboratory Co. of America's average media sentiment score of 1.32 beat Quest Diagnostics' score of 0.83 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
Quest Diagnostics	10 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Laboratory Co. of America	14 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is DGX or LH 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
Quest Diagnostics	8.82%	15.25%	6.92%
Laboratory Co. of America	3.43%	15.27%	7.13%

Do analysts rate DGX or LH?

Quest Diagnostics currently has a consensus price target of $164.58, indicating a potential upside of 2.58%. Laboratory Co. of America has a consensus price target of $255.92, indicating a potential upside of 8.80%. Given Laboratory Co. of America's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Laboratory Co. of America is more favorable than Quest Diagnostics.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Quest Diagnostics	0 Sell rating(s)	8 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50
Laboratory Co. of America	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	10 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.80

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

88.1% of Quest Diagnostics shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 95.9% of Laboratory Co. of America shares are held by institutional investors. 0.8% of Quest Diagnostics 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 large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Laboratory Co. of America beats Quest Diagnostics on 13 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.