LabCorp (LH) Gains As Market Dips: What You Should Know
In the latest trading session, LabCorp (LH) closed at $271.57, marking a +0.26% move from the previous day. This move outpaced the S&P 500's daily loss of 1.89%. At the same time, the Dow lost 1.3%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.17%.
Heading into today, shares of the medical laboratory operator had lost 10.28% over the past month, lagging the Medical sector's loss of 7.68% and the S&P 500's loss of 1.79% in that time.
Investors will be hoping for strength from LabCorp as it approaches its next earnings release, which is expected to be February 10, 2022. On that day, LabCorp is projected to report earnings of $5.81 per share, which would represent a year-over-year decline of 44.98%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $3.9 billion, down 13.16% from the year-ago period.
Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for LabCorp. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.
Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.
The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 4.61% higher. LabCorp is currently a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
In terms of valuation, LabCorp is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 14.65. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 18.78, so we one might conclude that LabCorp is trading at a discount comparatively.
Meanwhile, LH's PEG ratio is currently 1.39. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. The Medical - Dental Supplies industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 1.56 as of yesterday's close.
The Medical - Dental Supplies industry is part of the Medical sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 75, putting it in the top 30% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Make sure to utilize Zacks.com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.
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Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings (LH) : Free Stock Analysis Report
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