DaVita (DVA) Competitors

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

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%

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in DVA or LH?

Laboratory Co. of America received 130 more outperform votes than DaVita when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 63.89% of users gave Laboratory Co. of America an outperform vote while only 61.10% of users gave DaVita an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
DaVita	Outperform Votes 498 61.10%	Underperform Votes 317 38.90%
Laboratory Co. of America	Outperform Votes 628 63.89%	Underperform Votes 355 36.11%

Do insiders & institutionals believe 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, 0.8% of Laboratory Co. of America shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has better earnings & valuation, 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	$12.97B	0.85	$936.34M	$10.09	14.43
Laboratory Co. of America	$13.18B	1.59	$746M	$8.65	28.99

Does the media refer more to DVA or LH?

In the previous week, DaVita had 5 more articles in the media than Laboratory Co. of America. MarketBeat recorded 25 mentions for DaVita and 20 mentions for Laboratory Co. of America. Laboratory Co. of America's average media sentiment score of 1.42 beat DaVita's score of 1.15 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	15 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	7 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Laboratory Co. of America	19 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts prefer DVA or LH?

DaVita currently has a consensus price target of $164.50, suggesting a potential upside of 12.99%. Laboratory Co. of America has a consensus price target of $270.62, suggesting a potential upside of 7.93%. Given DaVita's higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe DaVita is more favorable than Laboratory Co. of America.

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)	11 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.87

Which has more volatility and risk, DVA or LH?

DaVita has a beta of 1.14, meaning that its stock price is 14% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Laboratory Co. of America has a beta of 0.82, meaning that its stock price is 18% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Laboratory Co. of America beats DaVita on 11 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.