How to buy Laboratory Corporation of America stock | 199.09

Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings is a diagnostics & research business based in the US. Laboratory Corporation of America shares (LH) are listed on the NYSE and all prices are listed in US Dollars. Laboratory Corporation of America employs 65,000 staff and has a trailing 12-month revenue of around USD$11.5 billion.

How to buy shares in Laboratory Corporation of America

1. Compare share trading platforms. If you're a beginner, look for a platform with low commissions, expert ratings and investment tools to track your portfolio. Narrow down top brands with our comparison table.
2. Open and fund your brokerage account. Complete an application with your personal and financial details, like your ID and bank information. Fund your account with a bank transfer, credit card or debit card.
3. Search for Laboratory Corporation of America. Find the stock by name or ticker symbol: LH. Research its history to confirm it's a solid investment against your financial goals.
4. Purchase now or later. Buy today with a market order or use a limit order to delay your purchase until Laboratory Corporation of America reaches your desired price. To spread out your purchase, look into dollar-cost averaging, which smooths out buying at consistent intervals and amounts.
5. Decide on how many to buy. At last close price of USD$199.09, weigh your budget against a diversified portfolio that can minimize risk through the market's ups and downs. You may be able to buy a fractional share of Laboratory Corporation of America, depending on your broker.
6. Check in on your investment. Congratulations, you own a part of Laboratory Corporation of America. Optimize your portfolio by tracking how your stock — and even the business — performs with an eye on the long term. You may be eligible for dividends and shareholder voting rights on directors and management that can affect your stock.

How has coronavirus impacted Laboratory Corporation of America's share price?

Since the stock market crash in March caused by coronavirus, Laboratory Corporation of America's share price has had significant positive movement.

Its last market close was USD$199.09, which is 4.79% up on its pre-crash value of USD$189.56 and 103.11% up on the lowest point reached during the March crash when the shares fell as low as USD$98.02.

If you had bought USD$1,000 worth of Laboratory Corporation of America shares at the start of February 2020, those shares would have been worth USD$584.19 at the bottom of the March crash, and if you held on to them, then as of the last market close they'd be worth USD$1,114.90.

Laboratory Corporation of America share price

Use our graph to track the performance of LH stocks over time.

Laboratory Corporation of America shares at a glance

• Key figures

Information last updated 2020-10-20.

Latest market close	USD$199.09
52-week range	USD$98.02 - USD$207.03
50-day moving average	USD$185.4349
200-day moving average	USD$175.6083
Wall St. target price	USD$232.13
PE ratio	53.1957
Dividend yield	N/A (0%)
Earnings per share (TTM)	USD$3.709

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Is it a good time to buy Laboratory Corporation of America stock?

The technical analysis gauge below displays real-time ratings for the timeframes you select. This is not a recommendation, however. It represents a technical analysis based on the most popular technical indicators: Moving Averages, Oscillators and Pivots. Finder might not concur and takes no responsibility.

Technical Analysis of Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings by TradingView

This chart is not advice or a guarantee of success. Rather, it gauges the real-time recommendations of three popular technical indicators: moving averages, oscillators and pivots. Finder is not responsible for how your stock performs.

Laboratory Corporation of America price performance over time

Historical closes compared with the close of $199.09 from 2020-10-16

1 week (2020-11-19)	0.16%
1 month (2020-10-27)	-3.58%
3 months (2020-08-27)	14.25%
6 months (2020-05-26)	18.11%

1 year (2019-11-26)	14.77%
2 years (2018-11-26)	22.72%
3 years (2017-11-24)	31.77%
5 years (2015-11-25)	63.43%

Is Laboratory Corporation of America under- or over-valued?

Valuing Laboratory Corporation of America stock is incredibly difficult, and any metric has to be viewed as part of a bigger picture of Laboratory Corporation of America's overall performance. However, analysts commonly use some key metrics to help gauge the value of a stock.

Laboratory Corporation of America's P/E ratio

Laboratory Corporation of America's current share price divided by its per-share earnings (EPS) over a 12-month period gives a "trailing price/earnings ratio" of roughly 53x. In other words, Laboratory Corporation of America shares trade at around 53x recent earnings.

That's relatively high compared to, say, the trailing 12-month P/E ratio for the NASDAQ 100 at the end of 2019 (27.29). The high P/E ratio could mean that investors are optimistic about the outlook for the shares or simply that they're over-valued.

Laboratory Corporation of America's PEG ratio

Laboratory Corporation of America's "price/earnings-to-growth ratio" can be calculated by dividing its P/E ratio by its growth – to give 2.3109. A low ratio can be interpreted as meaning the shares offer better value, while a higher ratio can be interpreted as meaning the shares offer worse value.

The PEG ratio provides a broader view than just the P/E ratio, as it gives more insight into Laboratory Corporation of America's future profitability. By accounting for growth, it could also help you if you're comparing the share prices of multiple high-growth companies.

Laboratory Corporation of America's EBITDA

Laboratory Corporation of America's EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) is USD$1.8 billion.

The EBITDA is a measure of a Laboratory Corporation of America's overall financial performance and is widely used to measure a its profitability.

Laboratory Corporation of America financials

Revenue TTM	USD$11.5 billion
Operating margin TTM	11.54%
Gross profit TTM	USD$3.3 billion
Return on assets TTM	4.65%
Return on equity TTM	4.99%
Profit margin	3.16%
Book value	$75.567
Market capitalisation	USD$19.5 billion

TTM: trailing 12 months

Shorting Laboratory Corporation of America shares

There are currently 1.3 million Laboratory Corporation of America shares held short by investors – that's known as Laboratory Corporation of America's "short interest". This figure is 11.6% down from 1.4 million last month.

There are a few different ways that this level of interest in shorting Laboratory Corporation of America shares can be evaluated.

Laboratory Corporation of America's "short interest ratio" (SIR)

Laboratory Corporation of America's "short interest ratio" (SIR) is the quantity of Laboratory Corporation of America shares currently shorted divided by the average quantity of Laboratory Corporation of America shares traded daily (recently around 679708.69565217). Laboratory Corporation of America's SIR currently stands at 1.84. In other words for every 100,000 Laboratory Corporation of America shares traded daily on the market, roughly 1840 shares are currently held short.

However Laboratory Corporation of America's short interest can also be evaluated against the total number of Laboratory Corporation of America shares, or, against the total number of tradable Laboratory Corporation of America shares (the shares that aren't held by "insiders" or major long-term shareholders – also known as the "float"). In this case Laboratory Corporation of America's short interest could be expressed as 0.01% of the outstanding shares (for every 100,000 Laboratory Corporation of America shares in existence, roughly 10 shares are currently held short) or 0.0145% of the tradable shares (for every 100,000 tradable Laboratory Corporation of America shares, roughly 15 shares are currently held short).

Such a low SIR usually points to an optimistic outlook for the share price, with fewer people currently willing to bet against Laboratory Corporation of America.

Find out more about how you can short Laboratory Corporation of America stock.

Laboratory Corporation of America's environmental, social and governance track record

Environmental, social and governance (known as ESG) criteria are a set of three factors used to measure the sustainability and social impact of companies like Laboratory Corporation of America.

When it comes to ESG scores, lower is better, and lower scores are generally associated with lower risk for would-be investors.

Laboratory Corporation of America's total ESG risk score

Total ESG risk: 19.26

Socially conscious investors use ESG scores to screen how an investment aligns with their worldview, and Laboratory Corporation of America's overall score of 19.26 (as at 10/01/2020) is excellent – landing it in it in the 15th percentile of companies rated in the same sector.

ESG scores are increasingly used to estimate the level of risk a company like Laboratory Corporation of America is exposed to within the areas of "environmental" (carbon footprint, resource use etc.), "social" (health and safety, human rights etc.), and "governance" (anti-corruption, tax transparency etc.).

Laboratory Corporation of America's environmental score

Environmental score: 4.17/100

Laboratory Corporation of America's environmental score of 4.17 puts it squarely in the 7th percentile of companies rated in the same sector. This could suggest that Laboratory Corporation of America is a leader in its sector terms of its environmental impact, and exposed to a lower level of risk.

Laboratory Corporation of America's social score

Social score: 11.07/100

Laboratory Corporation of America's social score of 11.07 puts it squarely in the 7th percentile of companies rated in the same sector. This could suggest that Laboratory Corporation of America is a leader in its sector when it comes to taking good care of its workforce and the communities it impacts.

Laboratory Corporation of America's governance score

Governance score: 13.02/100

Laboratory Corporation of America's governance score puts it squarely in the 7th percentile of companies rated in the same sector. That could suggest that Laboratory Corporation of America is a leader in its sector when it comes to responsible management and strategy, and exposed to a lower level of risk.

Laboratory Corporation of America's controversy score

Controversy score: 2/5

ESG scores also evaluate any incidences of controversy that a company has been involved in. Laboratory Corporation of America scored a 2 out of 5 for controversy – the second-highest score possible, reflecting that Laboratory Corporation of America has, for the most part, managed to keep its nose clean.

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) summary

Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings was last rated for ESG on: 2020-10-01.

Total ESG score	19.26
Total ESG percentile	14.56
Environmental score	4.17
Environmental score percentile	7
Social score	11.07
Social score percentile	7
Governance score	13.02
Governance score percentile	7
Level of controversy	2

Laboratory Corporation of America share dividends

We're not expecting Laboratory Corporation of America to pay a dividend over the next 12 months.

Have Laboratory Corporation of America's shares ever split?

Laboratory Corporation of America's shares were split on a 2:1 basis on 13 May 2002. So if you had owned 1 share the day before before the split, the next day you'd have owned 2 shares. This wouldn't directly have changed the overall worth of your Laboratory Corporation of America shares – just the quantity. However, indirectly, the new 50% lower share price could have impacted the market appetite for Laboratory Corporation of America shares which in turn could have impacted Laboratory Corporation of America's share price.

Laboratory Corporation of America share price volatility

Over the last 12 months, Laboratory Corporation of America's shares have ranged in value from as little as $98.02 up to $207.03. A popular way to gauge a stock's volatility is its "beta".

Beta is a measure of a share's volatility in relation to the market. The market (NYSE average) beta is 1, while Laboratory Corporation of America's is 1.2499. This would suggest that Laboratory Corporation of America's shares are a little bit more volatile than the average for this exchange and represent, relatively-speaking, a slightly higher risk (but potentially also market-beating returns).

Laboratory Corporation of America overview

Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings operates as an independent clinical laboratory company worldwide. It operates in two segments, LabCorp Diagnostics (LCD) and Covance Drug Development. It offers various clinical laboratory tests, such as blood chemistry analyses, urinalyses, blood cell counts, thyroid tests, Pap tests, hemoglobin A1C and vitamin D products, prostate-specific antigens, tests for sexually-transmitted diseases, hepatitis C tests, microbiology cultures and procedures, and alcohol and other substance-abuse tests. The company also provides testing services in the areas of women's health, allergy, diagnostic genetics, cardiovascular and infectious disease, endocrinology, oncology, coagulation, pharmacogenetics, toxicology, and medical drug monitoring; and esoteric testing, cancer diagnostics, and other procedures. In addition, it provides a suite of applications to enable patients, healthcare providers, health systems, accountable care organizations, and insurers with access to LCD's data and services, as well as billing for laboratory services. Further, it offers end-to-end drug development, medical device, and diagnostic development solutions from research to clinical development and commercial market access. The company primarily serves managed care organizations, biopharmaceutical companies, physicians and other healthcare providers, hospitals and health systems, governmental agencies, employers, patients and consumers, contract research organizations, academic institutions, and independent clinical laboratories. Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings has collaborations with the Boston University, Columbia University, Duke University, Johns Hopkins University, The Mount Sinai Hospital, the University of Tennessee, Yale University, and QIAGEN N.V; and Ciox Health for the creation of COVID-19 patient data registry in the United States. The company was founded in 1971 and is headquartered in Burlington, North Carolina.

Frequently asked questions

• What percentage of Laboratory Corporation of America is owned by insiders or institutions?

  Currently 0.637% of Laboratory Corporation of America shares are held by insiders and 95.729% by institutions.

• How many people work for Laboratory Corporation of America?

  Latest data suggests 65,000 work at Laboratory Corporation of America.

• When does the fiscal year end for Laboratory Corporation of America?

  Laboratory Corporation of America's fiscal year ends in December.

• Where is Laboratory Corporation of America based?

  Laboratory Corporation of America's address is: 358 South Main Street, Burlington, NC, United States, 27215

• What is Laboratory Corporation of America's ISIN number?

  Laboratory Corporation of America's international securities identification number is: US50540R4092

• What is Laboratory Corporation of America's CUSIP number?

  Laboratory Corporation of America's Committee on Uniform Securities Identification Procedures number is: 50540R102