LifeStance Health Group (NASDAQ:LFST) and Chemed (NYSE:CHE) Critical Review

LifeStance Health Group (NASDAQ:LFST) and Chemed (NYSE:CHE) are both mid-cap medical companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, risk, institutional ownership, valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations and earnings.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for LifeStance Health Group and Chemed, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
LifeStance Health Group	0	2	6	1	2.89
Chemed	1	3	2	0	2.17

LifeStance Health Group currently has a consensus price target of $9.83, suggesting a potential upside of 55.84%. Chemed has a consensus price target of $498.00, suggesting a potential upside of 30.90%. Given LifeStance Health Group’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe LifeStance Health Group is more favorable than Chemed.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares LifeStance Health Group and Chemed”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
LifeStance Health Group	$1.42 billion	1.73	$9.66 million	$0.02	315.50
Chemed	$2.53 billion	2.07	$265.24 million	$18.37	20.71

Chemed has higher revenue and earnings than LifeStance Health Group. Chemed is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than LifeStance Health Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Risk and Volatility

LifeStance Health Group has a beta of 1.13, suggesting that its stock price is 13% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Chemed has a beta of 0.49, suggesting that its stock price is 51% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

85.5% of LifeStance Health Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 95.8% of Chemed shares are held by institutional investors. 3.2% of LifeStance Health Group shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.3% of Chemed shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares LifeStance Health Group and Chemed’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
LifeStance Health Group	0.68%	0.65%	0.45%
Chemed	10.48%	25.66%	17.24%

Summary

Chemed beats LifeStance Health Group on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About LifeStance Health Group

LifeStance Health Group, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides outpatient mental health services to children, adolescents, adults, and geriatrics in the United States. The company offers patients a suite of mental health services, including psychiatric evaluations and treatment, psychological, and neuropsychological testing, as well as individual, family, and group therapy. It treats a range of mental health conditions, including anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, psychotic disorders, and post-traumatic stress disorder. In addition, the company operates an outpatient mental health platform, as well as offers patient care virtually through its online delivery platform or in-person at its centers. LifeStance Health Group, Inc. was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona.

About Chemed

Chemed Corporation provides hospice and palliative care services to patients through a network of physicians, registered nurses, home health aides, social workers, clergy, and volunteers primarily in the United States. The company operates in VITAS and Roto-Rooter segments. It offers plumbing, drain cleaning, excavation, water restoration, and other related services to residential and commercial customers through company-owned branches, independent contractors, and franchisees. The company was incorporated in 1970 and is headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio.