In the latest trading session, UnitedHealth Group (UNH) closed at $217.21, marking a -0.05% move from the previous day. This change was narrower than the S&P 500’s daily loss of 1.23%. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 1.28%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 1.13%.
Heading into today, shares of the largest U.S. health insurer had lost 7.13% over the past month, lagging the Medical sector’s loss of 1.2% and the S&P 500’s gain of 1.95% in that time.
Wall Street will be looking for positivity from UNH as it approaches its next earnings report date. This is expected to be October 15, 2019. On that day, UNH is projected to report earnings of $3.75 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 9.97%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $59.77 billion, up 5.68% from the year-ago period.
UNH’s full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $14.84 per share and revenue of $241.56 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +15.22% and +6.77%, respectively.
Any recent changes to analyst estimates for UNH should also be noted by investors. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. 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. 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. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.03% lower. UNH is holding a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell) right now.
Investors should also note UNH’s current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 14.65. This represents a premium compared to its industry’s average Forward P/E of 14.57.
Also, we should mention that UNH has a PEG ratio of 1.16. 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. UNH’s industry had an average PEG ratio of 0.99 as of yesterday’s close.
The Medical – HMOs industry is part of the Medical sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 64, which puts it in the top 26% 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.
You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.
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