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UnitedHealth Group (UNH) Gains As Market Dips: What You Should Know

In the latest trading session, UnitedHealth Group (UNH) closed at $537.62, marking a +1.49% move from the previous day. This move outpaced the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.03%. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.45%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 0.05%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the largest U.S. health insurer had lost 2.23% over the past month. This has lagged the Medical sector's gain of 6.41% and the S&P 500's gain of 6.23% in that time.

Wall Street will be looking for positivity from UnitedHealth Group as it approaches its next earnings report date. In that report, analysts expect UnitedHealth Group to post earnings of $5.16 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 15.18%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $81.54 billion, up 10.57% from the year-ago period.

Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $22.01 per share and revenue of $323.07 billion. These totals would mark changes of +15.72% and +12.33%, respectively, from last year.

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Investors might also notice 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 shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an 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 0.12% higher. UnitedHealth Group is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Digging into valuation, UnitedHealth Group currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 24.07. This represents a premium compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 18.04.

It is also worth noting that UNH currently has a PEG ratio of 1.65. 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 1.18 based on yesterday's closing prices.

The Medical - HMOs industry is part of the Medical sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 190, putting it in the bottom 25% 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.

To follow UNH in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.

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UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (UNH) : Free Stock Analysis Report

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