On Tuesday, CFRA analyst Paige Meyer raised the rating for Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) from Hold to Buy, increasing the price target to $178 from $155. The adjustment reflects the analyst's optimism about the company's sales growth prospects.
Meyer cites higher utilization trends as a positive influence on the revised outlook. The price target is now set at 18.4 times the firm's 2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimate, marking a premium to Quest Diagnostics' historical forward average.
Quest Diagnostics recently reported third-quarter earnings of $2.30 per share, surpassing the consensus by $0.04. Sales reached $2.5 billion, which was 3% higher than consensus estimates, with organic growth noted at 4.2%. This growth was attributed to increased volumes and higher revenue per requisition.
Meyer has adjusted the EPS estimates for the company, raising the 2024 forecast by $0.03 to $8.89 and the 2025 forecast by $0.18 to $9.67.
The company has also revised its 2024 adjusted EPS guidance upwards by $0.05 to $8.90 at the midpoint. This revision is partly due to the expected top-line contributions from the acquisition of LifeLabs, though it is partially offset by the financial impacts of Hurricane Milton, which are estimated at a negative $0.08 per share.
Despite these adjustments, Meyer anticipates that the company's organic revenue growth will be around 3% in 2025, assuming that utilization trends remain robust.
In 2024, Quest Diagnostics completed eight acquisitions, and the analyst predicts that these will enable the company to surpass its revenue growth target of 1% to 2% from acquisitions for 2025. Nevertheless, Meyer expects that Quest Diagnostics will return to this growth range in 2026. The acquisitions and the updated guidance indicate a strategic approach to growth and market expansion for the healthcare diagnostics company.
In other recent news, Quest Diagnostics delivered robust third-quarter results, surpassing analyst expectations on both earnings and revenue fronts. The diagnostic testing firm posted adjusted earnings per share of $2.30, exceeding the consensus estimate of $2.26. Revenue saw an 8.5% year-over-year increase to $2.49 billion, beating analysts' projections of $2.43 billion.
The company's performance was attributed to new customer acquisitions, expanded business with physicians and hospitals, and recent acquisitions, including LifeLabs. In light of these developments, Quest has raised its full-year revenue guidance to a range of $9.80 billion to $9.85 billion, up from the earlier forecast of $9.50 billion to $9.58 billion. However, this updated projection falls short of the $9.657 billion analysts were expecting.
Despite this, the firm maintained its adjusted EPS guidance of $8.85 to $8.95. Quest attributes the improved revenue outlook to contributions from recent acquisitions and expressed confidence in its potential to drive accelerated revenue and earnings growth in 2025.
InvestingPro Insights
Quest Diagnostics' recent performance and strategic moves align with several key insights from InvestingPro. The company's market cap stands at $17.56 billion, reflecting its significant presence in the healthcare diagnostics sector.
An InvestingPro Tip highlights that Quest Diagnostics has maintained dividend payments for 21 consecutive years, demonstrating a commitment to shareholder returns that complements its growth strategy. This is further supported by a current dividend yield of 2.04% and a dividend growth rate of 5.63% over the last twelve months.
The company's P/E ratio of 21.04 and adjusted P/E ratio of 19.71 for the last twelve months suggest that investors are willing to pay a premium for Quest's earnings, possibly due to its strong market position and growth prospects. This aligns with CFRA's upgraded outlook and increased price target.
Quest's revenue for the last twelve months was $9.346 billion, with a quarterly revenue growth of 2.52% in Q2 2024. This growth, albeit modest, supports the analyst's optimism about the company's sales growth prospects and higher utilization trends.
InvestingPro offers 13 additional tips for Quest Diagnostics, providing investors with a comprehensive analysis of the company's financial health and market position. To gain access to these insights and more, consider exploring the full range of data available on InvestingPro.
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