Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.72

Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, July 25th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 29th will be paid a dividend of 0.72 per share by the medical research company on Friday, September 13th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 29th.

Laboratory Co. of America has a payout ratio of 18.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Laboratory Co. of America to earn $15.86 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.88 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 18.2%.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Up 0.1 %

LH opened at $209.75 on Friday. Laboratory Co. of America has a 52 week low of $191.97 and a 52 week high of $234.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $203.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $210.74. The company has a market cap of $17.68 billion, a PE ratio of 42.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.05.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The medical research company reported $3.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.48 by $0.20. Laboratory Co. of America had a return on equity of 14.68% and a net margin of 3.52%. The firm had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.82 earnings per share. Laboratory Co. of America’s revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Laboratory Co. of America will post 14.84 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Laboratory Co. of America

In related news, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.10, for a total transaction of $50,025.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,722 shares in the company, valued at $3,145,972.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 250 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.10, for a total value of $50,025.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,145,972.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Peter J. Wilkinson sold 2,439 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.33, for a total transaction of $498,360.87. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,087 shares in the company, valued at approximately $426,436.71. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 4,939 shares of company stock worth $1,021,078. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on LH shares. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $234.00 to $213.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $270.00 to $255.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $261.00 to $243.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $241.29.

Laboratory Co. of America Company Profile

Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings operates as a life sciences company that provides vital information to help doctors, hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, researchers, and patients make clear and confident decisions. It operates in two segments, Labcorp Diagnostics (Dx) and Biopharma Laboratory Services (BLS).