Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) Releases FY24 Earnings Guidance

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) updated its FY24 earnings guidance on Thursday. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of $14.45-15.35 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.84. Laboratory Co. of America also updated its FY 2024 guidance to 14.450-15.350 EPS.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on LH. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $255.00 to $244.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. SVB Leerink assumed coverage on Laboratory Co. of America in a research report on Monday, February 26th. They issued an outperform rating and a $260.00 target price on the stock. Argus raised Laboratory Co. of America from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $250.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $270.00 to $255.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, Leerink Partnrs reissued an outperform rating on shares of Laboratory Co. of America in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $242.44.

Laboratory Co. of America Price Performance

Shares of LH traded up $0.05 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $198.40. The stock had a trading volume of 931,285 shares, compared to its average volume of 758,681. Laboratory Co. of America has a 12 month low of $174.20 and a 12 month high of $234.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.69 billion, a PE ratio of 42.55, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.17. The company’s 50-day moving average is $212.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $214.69.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The medical research company reported $3.68 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.46 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.12 billion. Laboratory Co. of America had a return on equity of 13.99% and a net margin of 3.24%. Laboratory Co. of America’s revenue was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.82 EPS. Research analysts expect that Laboratory Co. of America will post 14.84 EPS for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 24th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.45%. Laboratory Co. of America’s payout ratio is currently 61.67%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 259 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.06, for a total value of $57,513.54. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 7,637 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,695,872.22. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 259 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.06, for a total value of $57,513.54. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 7,637 shares in the company, valued at $1,695,872.22. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 237 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.45, for a total value of $53,668.65. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 7,637 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,729,398.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 54,305 shares of company stock worth $11,761,059 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

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).