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UnitedHealth Group (UNH) Stock Moves -1.33%: What You Should Know

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UnitedHealth Group (UNH - Free Report) closed at $467.43 in the latest trading session, marking a -1.33% move from the prior day. This change was narrower than the S&P 500's daily loss of 1.42%. At the same time, the Dow lost 0.49%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.47%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the largest U.S. health insurer had lost 4.18% over the past month. This has lagged the Medical sector's loss of 1.69% and the S&P 500's gain of 0.39% in that time.

UnitedHealth Group will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release, which is expected to be January 19, 2022. On that day, UnitedHealth Group is projected to report earnings of $4.30 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 70.63%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $73.1 billion, up 11.66% from the year-ago period.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for UnitedHealth Group should also be noted by investors. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-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. 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. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 0.01% higher. UnitedHealth Group is holding a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now.

Digging into valuation, UnitedHealth Group currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 21.82. This valuation marks a premium compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 16.58.

Investors should also note that UNH has a PEG ratio of 1.51 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. Medical - HMOs stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 1.16 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 105, which puts it in the top 42% 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.

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


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