UnitedHealth Group (UNH) Increases Despite Market Slip: Here's What You Need to Know
UnitedHealth Group (UNH) ended the recent trading session at $598.68, demonstrating a +1.44% swing from the preceding day's closing price. The stock outperformed the S&P 500, which registered a daily loss of 2.12%. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 1.51%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 3.26%.
Heading into today, shares of the largest U.S. health insurer had gained 3.55% over the past month, lagging the Medical sector's gain of 5.45% and the S&P 500's gain of 5.78% in that time.
The investment community will be closely monitoring the performance of UnitedHealth Group in its forthcoming earnings report. It is anticipated that the company will report an EPS of $7.05, marking a 7.47% rise compared to the same quarter of the previous year. At the same time, our most recent consensus estimate is projecting a revenue of $99.19 billion, reflecting a 7.39% rise from the equivalent quarter last year.
For the annual period, the Zacks Consensus Estimates anticipate earnings of $27.67 per share and a revenue of $398.84 billion, signifying shifts of +10.15% and +7.32%, respectively, from the last year.
Investors should also take note of any recent adjustments to analyst estimates for UnitedHealth Group. These latest adjustments often mirror the shifting dynamics of short-term business patterns. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.
Empirical research indicates that these revisions in estimates have a direct correlation with impending stock price performance. To take advantage of this, we've established the Zacks Rank, an exclusive model that considers these estimated changes and delivers an operational rating system.
The Zacks Rank system, ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), possesses a remarkable history of outdoing, externally audited, with #1 stocks returning an average annual gain of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, there's been a 0.05% fall in the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate. UnitedHealth Group presently features a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
In the context of valuation, UnitedHealth Group is at present trading with a Forward P/E ratio of 21.33. This indicates a premium in contrast to its industry's Forward P/E of 17.43.
Investors should also note that UNH has a PEG ratio of 1.64 right now. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. The Medical - HMOs industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.43 as trading concluded yesterday.
The Medical - HMOs industry is part of the Medical sector. With its current Zacks Industry Rank of 215, this industry ranks in the bottom 16% of all industries, numbering over 250.
The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the vigor of our specific industry groups by computing the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks incorporated in the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Remember to apply Zacks.com to follow these and more stock-moving metrics during the upcoming trading sessions.
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UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (UNH) : Free Stock Analysis Report