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

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

Laboratory Co. of America Trading Up 0.0 %

LH stock traded up $0.05 during trading on Friday, reaching $198.40. 931,285 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 758,681. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $212.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $214.69. Laboratory Co. of America has a 1 year low of $174.20 and a 1 year high of $234.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.01.

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

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LH has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. SVB Leerink assumed coverage on shares of Laboratory Co. of America in a research note on Monday, February 26th. They set an outperform rating and a $260.00 target price on the stock. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $234.00 to $213.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $255.00 to $244.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Leerink Partnrs reissued an outperform rating on shares of Laboratory Co. of America in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of Laboratory Co. of America in a research note on Friday, February 9th. They issued an in-line rating and a $240.00 price target on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $242.44.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 34,504 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.97, for a total value of $7,451,828.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 23,595 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,095,812.15. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Laboratory Co. of America news, CFO Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 34,504 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.97, for a total transaction of $7,451,828.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 23,595 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,095,812.15. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 237 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.45, for a total transaction of $53,668.65. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 7,637 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,729,398.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 54,305 shares of company stock worth $11,761,059. 0.85% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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).