UnitedHealth Group (UNH) closed at $263 in the latest trading session, marking a -0.15% move from the prior day. This move was narrower than the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.38%. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 0.46%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 0.17%.
Heading into today, shares of the largest U.S. health insurer had lost 7.86% over the past month, lagging the Medical sector's loss of 4.16% and the S&P 500's loss of 4.88% in that time.
Wall Street will be looking for positivity from UNH as it approaches its next earnings report date. The company is expected to report EPS of $3.62, down 2.95% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $64.67 billion, up 7.23% from the year-ago period.
Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $16.47 per share and revenue of $263.11 billion. These totals would mark changes of +9% and +8.66%, respectively, from last year.
Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for UNH. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for 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 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. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.03% higher. UNH is holding a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) right now.
Looking at its valuation, UNH is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 15.99. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 15.08, which means UNH is trading at a premium to the group.
Meanwhile, UNH's PEG ratio is currently 1.25. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. Medical - HMOs stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 1.03 based on yesterday's closing prices.
The Medical - HMOs industry is part of the Medical sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 88, putting it in the top 35% of all 250+ industries.
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.
You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.
UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH): Free Stock Analysis Report
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