UnitedHealth Group (UNH) Dips More Than Broader Markets: What You Should Know

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UnitedHealth Group (UNH) closed at $416.85 in the latest trading session, marking a -0.69% move from the prior day. This change lagged the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.58%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the largest U.S. health insurer had gained 2.58% over the past month. This has outpaced the Medical sector's gain of 2.3% and the S&P 500's gain of 2.07% in that time.

UNH will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. In that report, analysts expect UNH to post earnings of $4.46 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 27.07%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $71.37 billion, up 9.61% from the prior-year quarter.

UNH's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $18.76 per share and revenue of $284.54 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +11.14% and +10.65%, respectively.

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.

Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.

The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.05% higher within the past month. UNH is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Valuation is also important, so investors should note that UNH has a Forward P/E ratio of 22.38 right now. This valuation marks a premium compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 18.86.

We can also see that UNH currently has a PEG ratio of 1.69. 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. The Medical - HMOs industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 1.12 as of yesterday's close.

The Medical - HMOs industry is part of the Medical sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 103, which puts it in the top 41% 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.

Make sure to utilize Zacks. Com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.


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