Yahoo Finance UnitedHealth Group (UNH) Stock Sinks As Market Gains: What You Should Know
UnitedHealth Group (UNH) closed at $509.77 in the latest trading session, marking a -0.82% move from the prior day. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.34%. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 0.1%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.05%.
Coming into today, shares of the largest U.S. health insurer had lost 5.89% in the past month. In that same time, the Medical sector lost 5.59%, while the S&P 500 lost 7.95%.
UnitedHealth Group will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. In that report, analysts expect UnitedHealth Group to post earnings of $5.45 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 20.58%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $80.71 billion, up 11.58% from the prior-year quarter.
Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $21.85 per share and revenue of $322.11 billion. These totals would mark changes of +14.88% and +12%, respectively, from last year.
Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for UnitedHealth Group. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.
Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.
Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 0.11% lower. UnitedHealth Group currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
Looking at its valuation, UnitedHealth Group is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 23.52. This valuation marks a premium compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 18.85.
Also, we should mention that UNH has a PEG ratio of 1.61. 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 was holding an average PEG ratio of 1.16 at yesterday's closing price.
The Medical - HMOs industry is part of the Medical sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 162, which puts it in the bottom 36% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Make sure to utilize Zacks.com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.
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UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (UNH) : Free Stock Analysis Report
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