CON vs DGX: How Concentra Group Holdings and Quest Diagnostics Compare (2026)

Last updated August 2026

Short answer

DGX is the larger of the two ($25.72B market cap): the incumbent the market prices for continued execution (19.32x forward earnings, beta 0.57). CON is the smaller challenger ($4.45B), priced similarly on forward earnings (20.55x): more room to run, but more to prove. The real question is which set of drivers you believe, and whether owning one (or both) leaves you over-concentrated.

CON vs DGX: the tie-breaker metrics

Same yardstick, side by side (as of August 2026). Valuation lined up like this is most meaningful for two names in the same corner of the market, which these are. Figures are approximate; verify before investing.

Metric	CON	DGX	What it tells you
Market cap	$4.45B	$25.72B	Size. The larger name is the incumbent; the smaller has more room to grow and more to prove.
Forward P/E	20.55	19.32	Valuation on next year's expected earnings, the same yardstick for both. Lower is cheaper for that growth; higher means the market is paying up.
Trailing P/E	24.99	24.76	Valuation on the last 12 months. A big drop from trailing to forward means the market expects earnings to jump, so more growth is already in the price.
Beta	0.62	0.57	Volatility vs the market. Above 1 swings harder than the index; below 1 is steadier. Higher beta means bigger drawdowns to hold through.
Price vs 52-week range	99% of range	90% of range	Where today's price sits between the 52-week low and high. Near the high is momentum with less margin of safety; near the low is out of favor or a discount, depending on why.
Price / book	10.47	3.41	How much you pay over book value. Very high can signal an asset-light, high-return business or a rich price.

Before you buy: how CON and DGX affect your concentration

The metrics above tell you which is the marginally better business. The bigger risk for most people is not picking the slightly worse stock, it is over-concentrating. CON and DGX share themes, so owning both, or adding either to what you already hold, can quietly push a large share of your portfolio into one bet.

This is the part a generic comparison page cannot answer, because it depends on what you own. Connect your brokerage and Walnut shows your real, combined CON and DGX exposure, flags overlap with your existing positions, and tells you if adding one would tip you past a concentration you are comfortable with, read-only by default, with your login staying at your broker. Walnut is not an investment adviser.

What does Concentra Group Holdings (CON) do?

Concentra Group Holdings Parent (NYSE: CON) runs the country's largest occupational health network: roughly 633 company-operated occupational health centers plus about 415 onsite clinics located inside employer workplaces, serving somewhere near 56,400 patients per business day with about 13,000 employees. The work is narrow and repetitive by design. When someone gets hurt on the job, Concentra treats the injury and manages the return-to-work process, billed to a workers' compensation payer at a rate set by a state fee schedule. When an employer hires, Concentra runs the pre-placement physical, the DOT exam, and the drug screen, billed directly to the employer. A third bucket covers Concentra Telemed, Concentra Pharmacy, and medical compliance administration. The company was carved out of Select Medical through a July 2024 IPO and a full spin-off completed on November 25, 2024, and it has since bolted on Nova Medical Centers (67 Texas centers, ~$265 million, closed March 2025) and Pivot Onsite Innovations (200-plus onsite clinics bought from Athletico for ~$55 million, closed June 2025).

Full CON guide

What does Quest Diagnostics (DGX) do?

Quest Diagnostics operates one of the largest clinical laboratory networks in the United States, processing billions of test results a year across a footprint of patient service centers, hospital and physician outreach relationships, and consumer-initiated testing. Its core Diagnostic Information Services segment spans routine testing (blood counts, cholesterol, metabolic panels) plus a growing base of advanced molecular and genomic diagnostics in oncology, neurology, women's health, and infectious disease. Scale, a national logistics network, and long-standing payer contracts are the company's main moats in a fragmented roughly $100 billion US lab market where Quest and Labcorp together hold the top tier.

Full DGX guide

CON vs DGX: how do they differ?

Both fit overlapping themes, but they are not interchangeable. The useful comparison is which set of drivers and risks you want exposure to.

CON drivers: Rate is carrying growth, not volume; Clinic density plus a capital-light onsite channel.
DGX drivers: Organic volume growth; Acquisitions as a growth engine.

Which fits which kind of investor

A faster-growing, richer-valued name usually swings harder, so it suits a longer horizon and a higher tolerance for volatility; a steadier, more cash-generative business suits a more conservative or income-minded investor. The honest test is which set of risks you could hold through a drawdown: Visit volumes track hiring and employment: employer services work is generated by new hires, and workers' compensation claims are generated by people actually on job sites, so a labor market slowdown hits both lines at once and there is no offsetting counter-cyclical revenue. For DGX, the largest risk is reimbursement policy: Medicare rates under PAMA face potential cuts (a delay pushed reductions toward 2027, but a roughly 15 percent cut to hundreds of tests looms without permanent reform), and private-payer pricing pressure caps growth.

CON or DGX: which should you pick?

Growth-minded investors who believe the theme has years to run tend to accept the richer multiple for more upside; value-minded investors lean toward the cheaper forward earnings and steadier profile. Pick CON if you believe its drivers more; DGX if you believe its. Many investors hold both, but since they share themes, that is a concentrated bet, not diversification. Decide deliberately and check overlap. For the full detail, see the CON and DGX guides.

CON vs DGX: the full fundamentals

CON. The multiple is not demanding for a business compounding earnings in the 25% to 30% range, but the growth is a blend of acquisition contribution and administered rate increases rather than organic demand, which usually earns a lower multiple than an equivalent organic grower. Including net debt, enterprise value sits near ~$5.8 billion, or roughly ~12x the midpoint of 2026 adjusted EBITDA guidance. Free cash flow guidance of ~$220 million to ~$240 million against a ~$4.4 billion market cap is the cleaner yardstick, since depreciation on a leased clinic network overstates the true reinvestment need.

DGX. In Q1 2026 Quest reported revenue of about $2.9 billion (up 9.2 percent) and adjusted EPS of $2.50 (up 13.1 percent), and raised full-year guidance. The stock traded near $205 in mid-July 2026 at a forward P/E under 20, a moderate multiple below primary competitor Labcorp. The dividend has risen for 15 consecutive years, most recently a 7.5 percent increase.

Headline figures (approximate, August 2026): CON shows revenue (ttm) ~$2.29B, up ~14% year over year, net income (ttm) / eps ~$196M, ~$1.53 per share, fy 2026 guidance Revenue ~$2.325B to ~$2.375B, adjusted EBITDA ~$485M to ~$495M, market cap ~$4.4B at roughly ~$34.50 per share (~128M shares); DGX shows revenue (ttm) ~$11.5B, 2026 revenue guidance ~$11.78B to $11.9B, 2026 adj. eps guidance ~$10.63 to $10.83, market cap ~$22.8B.

The bottom line: CON vs DGX

CON and DGX are related but distinct: same themes, different businesses and risks. Neither wins in the abstract; the right pick is whichever thesis you actually believe, sized so you are not over-concentrated in one theme. Walnut can show your combined CON and DGX exposure against your real portfolio. It is not an investment adviser.

Wondering how CON or DGX fits the portfolio you already own? Walnut is an AI investing app that connects your brokerage read-only and answers questions like that about your actual holdings: overlap, concentration, and how each position tracks the S&P 500. Compare the best AI portfolio analyzers or see the best AI investing apps in 2026.

Investing in Concentra Group Holdings with AI

Connect the broker you already use and ask Walnut's AI how CON fits what you actually hold: whether you own it already through a fund, what it would do to your concentration, and how it has tracked the S&P 500. Read-only by default, and you approve anything before it reaches your broker.

See how it fits your portfolio

FAQ

What is the difference between CON and DGX?

Is CON or DGX the better stock?

Neither is universally better. DGX is the larger incumbent; CON is the smaller challenger and looks pricier on forward earnings. Walnut is informational, not investment advice. Compare what each does, the tie-breaker metrics above, and the risks, then decide which fits your thesis and what you already own.

Which is cheaper, CON or DGX?

On forward P/E (as of August 2026), CON trades at 20.55x and DGX at 19.32x, so DGX is the cheaper of the two on next year's expected earnings. A lower multiple is not automatically the better buy: a richer valuation can be justified by faster growth, and a lower one can reflect real risk. Weigh the multiple against how fast each business is compounding.

Should you own both CON and DGX?

Because they share themes, owning both concentrates you in that theme. That can be intentional (a focused bet) or accidental (less diversification than it looks). Walnut can show your combined exposure across both, and whether adding either over-concentrates you, before you buy.

What are the risks of CON vs DGX?

CON: Visit volumes track hiring and employment: employer services work is generated by new hires, and workers' compensation claims are generated by people actually on job sites, so a labor market slowdown hits both lines at once and there is no offsetting counter-cyclical revenue. Reimbursement is set by state workers' compensation boards rather than negotiated, so a single large state trimming or freezing its fee schedule can remove growth that the company cannot recover operationally, and management has already flagged New York as less attractive than Texas, California, Florida, or Pennsylvania. Leverage near 3.0x net is manageable but leaves less room than a debt-free peer if volumes disappoint, and clinician wage inflation is a real cost pressure in a business that is mostly people and leases. The company also inherits litigation exposure from its Select Medical era, including consolidated data-breach class action claims tied to the Perry Johnson and Associates transcription incident. Finally, the stock has roughly doubled off its 52-week low and sits at the top of its range after the second quarter print, so a good deal of the improved execution is already reflected in the price. DGX: The largest risk is reimbursement policy: Medicare rates under PAMA face potential cuts (a delay pushed reductions toward 2027, but a roughly 15 percent cut to hundreds of tests looms without permanent reform), and private-payer pricing pressure caps growth. Labor shortages in clinical lab technologists and molecular specialists can raise costs and constrain capacity. Increased FDA oversight of laboratory-developed tests could add compliance burden. Acquisition-led growth carries integration and overpayment risk, and a large debt load from deal activity adds interest expense. Finally, the business is competitive and partly commoditized, so share losses to Labcorp, hospital in-sourcing, or specialty labs would pressure both volume and margin.

Walnut is informational, not investment advice. This page is descriptive and not a recommendation to buy or sell CON or DGX; figures are approximate and dated (as of August 2026). Verify current data before investing.