LabCorp (LH) Dips More Than Broader Markets: What You Should Know

LabCorp (LH) closed at $203.16 in the latest trading session, marking a -1% move from the prior day. This change lagged the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.22%. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 0.35%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 0.28%.

Heading into today, shares of the medical laboratory operator had gained 10.98% over the past month, outpacing the Medical sector's loss of 2.05% and the S&P 500's gain of 3.82% in that time.

LH will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release, which is expected to be October 27, 2020. On that day, LH is projected to report earnings of $5.29 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 82.41%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $3.72 billion, up 27.07% from the prior-year quarter.

LH's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $14.78 per share and revenue of $12.84 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +30.57% and +11.14%, respectively.

Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for LH. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. 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. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 5.27% higher. LH is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Digging into valuation, LH currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 13.89. This valuation marks a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 36.66.

It is also worth noting that LH currently has a PEG ratio of 1.61. 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 was holding an average PEG ratio of 3.37 at yesterday's closing price.

The Medical - Dental Supplies industry is part of the Medical sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 206, putting it in the bottom 19% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.

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