UnitedHealth Group (UNH) ended the recent trading session at $320.37, demonstrating a +1.58% change from the preceding day's closing price. The stock outperformed the S&P 500, which registered a daily gain of 0.21%. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.25%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 0.45%.
Heading into today, shares of the largest U.S. health insurer had gained 25.71% over the past month, outpacing the Medical sector's gain of 5.47% and the S&P 500's gain of 3.07%.
The upcoming earnings release of UnitedHealth Group will be of great interest to investors. It is anticipated that the company will report an EPS of $2.87, marking a 59.86% fall compared to the same quarter of the previous year. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $113.54 billion, up 12.61% from the prior-year quarter.
Looking at the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $16.21 per share and revenue of $448.87 billion. These totals would mark changes of -41.4% and +12.14%, respectively, from last year.
It's also important for investors to be aware of any recent modifications to analyst estimates for UnitedHealth Group. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the business and profitability.
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.
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. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.08% higher. UnitedHealth Group currently has a Zacks Rank of #5 (Strong Sell).
Looking at valuation, UnitedHealth Group is presently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 19.46. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 17.67, which means UnitedHealth Group is trading at a premium to the group.
It is also worth noting that UNH currently has a PEG ratio of 2.04. 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. By the end of yesterday's trading, the Medical - HMOs industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.18.
The Medical - HMOs industry is part of the Medical sector. This industry, currently bearing a Zacks Industry Rank of 230, finds itself in the bottom 7% echelons of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the vigor of our specific industry groups by computing the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks incorporated in 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 Incorporated (UNH): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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