The most recent trading session ended with UnitedHealth Group (UNH) standing at $298.17, reflecting a +0.02% shift from the previouse trading day's closing. The stock lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.4%. At the same time, the Dow added 0.28%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.39%.
Coming into today, shares of the largest U.S. health insurer had lost 27.55% in the past month. In that same time, the Medical sector lost 3.41%, while the S&P 500 gained 6.69%.
The investment community will be paying close attention to the earnings performance of UnitedHealth Group in its upcoming release. On that day, UnitedHealth Group is projected to report earnings of $5.47 per share, which would represent a year-over-year decline of 19.56%. Simultaneously, our latest consensus estimate expects the revenue to be $112.14 billion, showing a 13.44% escalation compared to the year-ago quarter.
Regarding the entire year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates forecast earnings of $23.38 per share and revenue of $451.8 billion, indicating changes of -15.47% and +12.87%, respectively, compared to the previous year.
It is also important to note the recent changes 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 company's business and profitability.
Our research demonstrates that these adjustments in estimates directly associate with imminent stock price performance. To take advantage of this, we've established the Zacks Rank, an exclusive model that considers these estimated changes and delivers an operational 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 last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 13.7% lower. Right now, UnitedHealth Group possesses a Zacks Rank of #5 (Strong Sell).
In terms of valuation, UnitedHealth Group is presently being traded at a Forward P/E ratio of 12.75. This signifies no noticeable deviation in comparison to the average Forward P/E of 12.75 for its industry.
Also, we should mention that UNH has a PEG ratio of 1.17. The PEG ratio is akin to the commonly utilized P/E ratio, but this measure also incorporates the company's anticipated earnings growth rate. The Medical - HMOs was holding an average PEG ratio of 0.97 at yesterday's closing price.
The Medical - HMOs industry is part of the Medical sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 89, which puts it in the top 37% 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.
Keep in mind to rely on Zacks.com to watch all these stock-impacting metrics, and more, in the succeeding trading sessions.
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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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