Laboratory Co. of America (LH) to Release Earnings on Thursday

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) is scheduled to release its earnings data before the market opens on Thursday, October 24th. Analysts expect Laboratory Co. of America to post earnings of $3.53 per share for the quarter. Laboratory Co. of America has set its FY24 guidance at $14.30-14.90 EPS.Persons interested in listening to the company’s earnings conference call can do so using this link.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The medical research company reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.78 by $0.16. Laboratory Co. of America had a return on equity of 15.39% and a net margin of 3.60%. The business had revenue of $3.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.42 EPS. Laboratory Co. of America’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect Laboratory Co. of America to post $15 EPS for the current fiscal year and $16 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Laboratory Co. of America Price Performance

NYSE LH opened at $220.51 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market cap of $18.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.37, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.05. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $222.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $212.08. Laboratory Co. of America has a 52-week low of $191.97 and a 52-week high of $238.46.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be given a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.31%. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.95%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $278.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Barclays cut their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $249.00 to $234.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $251.85.

Insider Buying and Selling at Laboratory Co. of America

In other Laboratory Co. of America news, EVP Lance Berberian sold 12,093 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.10, for a total transaction of $2,770,506.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,921 shares in the company, valued at $3,647,501.10. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, EVP Lance Berberian sold 12,093 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.10, for a total value of $2,770,506.30. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,921 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,647,501.10. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.99, for a total value of $3,359,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 31,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,008,423.11. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 29,679 shares of company stock valued at $6,716,306 in the last ninety days. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Laboratory Co. of America

Labcorp Holdings Inc provides laboratory services. It operates through two segments, Diagnostics Laboratories and Biopharma Laboratory Services. The company offers various tests, such as blood chemistry analyses, urinalyses, blood cell counts, thyroid, PAP, hemoglobin A1C and vitamin D, prostate-specific antigens, sexually transmitted diseases, hepatitis C, microbiology cultures and procedures, and alcohol and other substance-abuse tests.