Quest Diagnostics (DGX) Competitors

Henry Schein (NASDAQ:HSIC) and Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) are both medical companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, institutional ownership, media sentiment, valuation, risk, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Do analysts recommend HSIC or DGX?

Henry Schein presently has a consensus target price of $79.70, suggesting a potential upside of 8.55%. Quest Diagnostics has a consensus target price of $185.73, suggesting a potential upside of 10.56%. Given Quest Diagnostics' stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Quest Diagnostics is more favorable than Henry Schein.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Henry Schein	0 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.64
Quest Diagnostics	0 Sell rating(s)	7 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.69

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in HSIC or DGX?

96.6% of Henry Schein shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 88.1% of Quest Diagnostics shares are held by institutional investors. 1.1% of Henry Schein shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 8.2% of Quest Diagnostics shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has more volatility and risk, HSIC or DGX?

Henry Schein has a beta of 0.87, indicating that its share price is 13% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Quest Diagnostics has a beta of 0.49, indicating that its share price is 51% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is HSIC or DGX more profitable?

Quest Diagnostics has a net margin of 8.81% compared to Henry Schein's net margin of 3.21%. Quest Diagnostics' return on equity of 15.11% beat Henry Schein's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Henry Schein	3.21%	14.87%	5.82%
Quest Diagnostics	8.81%	15.11%	6.65%

Which has higher valuation & earnings, HSIC or DGX?

Quest Diagnostics has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Henry Schein. Quest Diagnostics is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Henry Schein, 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
Henry Schein	$12.67B	0.71	$390M	$3.20	22.94
Quest Diagnostics	$10.16B	1.85	$871M	$7.91	21.24

Does the media favor HSIC or DGX?

In the previous week, Quest Diagnostics had 11 more articles in the media than Henry Schein. MarketBeat recorded 26 mentions for Quest Diagnostics and 15 mentions for Henry Schein. Quest Diagnostics' average media sentiment score of 1.28 beat Henry Schein's score of 0.85 indicating that Quest Diagnostics is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Henry Schein	6 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Quest Diagnostics	16 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Summary

Quest Diagnostics beats Henry Schein on 13 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.