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UnitedHealth Group (UNH) Gains But Lags Market: What You Should Know
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UnitedHealth Group (UNH - Free Report) closed at $291.23 in the latest trading session, marking a +0.02% move from the prior day. This change lagged the S&P 500's 1.05% gain on the day. At the same time, the Dow added 1.44%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.66%.
Coming into today, shares of the largest U.S. health insurer had gained 2.62% in the past month. In that same time, the Medical sector lost 1.32%, while the S&P 500 lost 1.56%.
UNH will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release, which is expected to be July 15, 2020. On that day, UNH is projected to report earnings of $5 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 38.89%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $63.74 billion, up 5.2% from the year-ago period.
For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $16.27 per share and revenue of $258.63 billion, which would represent changes of +7.68% and +6.8%, respectively, from the prior year.
Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for UNH. 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.
Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, 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. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.15% higher. UNH is holding a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now.
Digging into valuation, UNH currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 17.9. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 15.67, which means UNH is trading at a premium to the group.
It is also worth noting that UNH currently has a PEG ratio of 1.43. 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. Medical - HMOs stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 1.43 based on yesterday's closing prices.
The Medical - HMOs industry is part of the Medical sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 47, which puts it in the top 19% 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.
Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.
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UnitedHealth Group (UNH) Gains But Lags Market: What You Should Know
UnitedHealth Group (UNH - Free Report) closed at $291.23 in the latest trading session, marking a +0.02% move from the prior day. This change lagged the S&P 500's 1.05% gain on the day. At the same time, the Dow added 1.44%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.66%.
Coming into today, shares of the largest U.S. health insurer had gained 2.62% in the past month. In that same time, the Medical sector lost 1.32%, while the S&P 500 lost 1.56%.
UNH will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release, which is expected to be July 15, 2020. On that day, UNH is projected to report earnings of $5 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 38.89%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $63.74 billion, up 5.2% from the year-ago period.
For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $16.27 per share and revenue of $258.63 billion, which would represent changes of +7.68% and +6.8%, respectively, from the prior year.
Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for UNH. 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.
Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, 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. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.15% higher. UNH is holding a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now.
Digging into valuation, UNH currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 17.9. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 15.67, which means UNH is trading at a premium to the group.
It is also worth noting that UNH currently has a PEG ratio of 1.43. 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. Medical - HMOs stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 1.43 based on yesterday's closing prices.
The Medical - HMOs industry is part of the Medical sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 47, which puts it in the top 19% 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.
Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.