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UnitedHealth Group (UNH) Stock Slides as Market Rises: Facts to Know Before You Trade

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In the latest market close, UnitedHealth Group (UNH - Free Report) reached $526.55, with a -0.86% movement compared to the previous day. This change lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.45%.

The investment community will be closely monitoring the performance of UnitedHealth Group in its forthcoming earnings report. The company is scheduled to release its earnings on January 12, 2024. It is anticipated that the company will report an EPS of $5.98, marking a 11.99% rise compared to the same quarter of the previous year. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $91.96 billion, up 11.08% from the prior-year quarter.

For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $24.95 per share and revenue of $368.89 billion, which would represent changes of +12.44% and +13.8%, respectively, from the prior year.

Additionally, investors should keep an eye on any recent revisions to analyst forecasts for UnitedHealth Group. 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, stretching from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has a noteworthy track record of outperforming, validated by third-party audits, with stocks rated #1 producing an average annual return of +25% since the year 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has shifted 0.02% upward. At present, UnitedHealth Group boasts a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

In the context of valuation, UnitedHealth Group is at present trading with a Forward P/E ratio of 21.29. This signifies a premium in comparison to the average Forward P/E of 16.58 for its industry.

Also, we should mention that UNH has a PEG ratio of 1.61. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. 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. With its current Zacks Industry Rank of 64, this industry ranks in the top 26% of all industries, numbering over 250.

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.

Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.


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