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UnitedHealth Group (UNH) Stock Moves -1.51%: What You Should Know
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UnitedHealth Group (UNH - Free Report) closed at $272.38 in the latest trading session, marking a -1.51% move from the prior day. This change was narrower than the S&P 500's daily loss of 1.97%. Elsewhere, the Dow lost 2.32%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 2.78%.
Coming into today, shares of the largest U.S. health insurer had gained 7.56% in the past month. In that same time, the Medical sector lost 1.15%, while the S&P 500 lost 3.33%.
Investors will be hoping for strength from UNH as it approaches its next earnings release, which is expected to be January 15, 2019. On that day, UNH is projected to report earnings of $3.22 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 24.32%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $57.63 billion, up 10.69% from the year-ago period.
Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $12.81 per share and revenue of $225.19 billion. These totals would mark changes of +27.21% and +11.95%, respectively, from last year.
Any recent changes to analyst estimates for UNH should also be noted by investors. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.
Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. 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.
The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 0.7% higher. UNH is currently a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Digging into valuation, UNH currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 21.59. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 18.57, which means UNH is trading at a premium to the group.
Also, we should mention that UNH has a PEG ratio of 1.59. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. The Medical - HMOs industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 1.41 as of yesterday's close.
The Medical - HMOs industry is part of the Medical sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 38, which puts it in the top 15% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.
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UnitedHealth Group (UNH) Stock Moves -1.51%: What You Should Know
UnitedHealth Group (UNH - Free Report) closed at $272.38 in the latest trading session, marking a -1.51% move from the prior day. This change was narrower than the S&P 500's daily loss of 1.97%. Elsewhere, the Dow lost 2.32%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 2.78%.
Coming into today, shares of the largest U.S. health insurer had gained 7.56% in the past month. In that same time, the Medical sector lost 1.15%, while the S&P 500 lost 3.33%.
Investors will be hoping for strength from UNH as it approaches its next earnings release, which is expected to be January 15, 2019. On that day, UNH is projected to report earnings of $3.22 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 24.32%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $57.63 billion, up 10.69% from the year-ago period.
Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $12.81 per share and revenue of $225.19 billion. These totals would mark changes of +27.21% and +11.95%, respectively, from last year.
Any recent changes to analyst estimates for UNH should also be noted by investors. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.
Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. 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.
The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 0.7% higher. UNH is currently a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Digging into valuation, UNH currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 21.59. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 18.57, which means UNH is trading at a premium to the group.
Also, we should mention that UNH has a PEG ratio of 1.59. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. The Medical - HMOs industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 1.41 as of yesterday's close.
The Medical - HMOs industry is part of the Medical sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 38, which puts it in the top 15% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.