UnitedHealth Group (UNH) Gains As Market Dips: What You Should Know

UNH

UnitedHealth Group (UNH - Free Report) closed at $476.75 in the latest trading session, marking a +1.57% move from the prior day. The stock outpaced the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.53%.

Coming into today, shares of the largest U.S. health insurer had lost 2.1% in the past month. In that same time, the Medical sector gained 0.15%, while the S&P 500 gained 4.86%.

UnitedHealth Group will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release, which is expected to be July 14, 2023. The company is expected to report EPS of $6.04, up 8.44% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $90.59 billion, up 12.77% from the prior-year quarter.

Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $24.86 per share and revenue of $364.93 billion. These totals would mark changes of +12.03% and +12.58%, respectively, from last year.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for UnitedHealth Group should also be noted by investors. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.

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. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.48% lower within the past month. UnitedHealth Group is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

In terms of valuation, UnitedHealth Group is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 18.88. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 15.99, so we one might conclude that UnitedHealth Group is trading at a premium comparatively.

It is also worth noting that UNH currently has a PEG ratio of 1.37. 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. UNH's industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.08 as of yesterday's close.

The Medical - HMOs industry is part of the Medical sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 114, which puts it in the top 46% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our 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.

To follow UNH in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.

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