In the latest trading session, UnitedHealth Group (UNH) closed at $475.87, marking a +0.03% move from the previous day. The stock outpaced the S&P 500’s daily loss of 0.24%. Elsewhere, the Dow lost 0.49%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.04%.
Coming into today, shares of the largest U.S. health insurer had gained 2.08% in the past month. In that same time, the Medical sector gained 2.6%, while the S&P 500 gained 0.73%.
Investors will be hoping for strength from UnitedHealth Group as it approaches its next earnings release. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $78.56 billion, up 11.92% from the year-ago period.
Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $21.70 per share and revenue of $319.27 billion. These totals would mark changes of +14.09% and +11.01%, respectively, from last year.
Any recent changes to analyst estimates for UnitedHealth Group should also be noted by investors. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company’s business and profitability.
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, 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. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection remained stagnant. UnitedHealth Group is holding a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now.
Looking at its valuation, UnitedHealth Group is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 21.93. This represents a premium compared to its industry’s average Forward P/E of 17.99.
Investors should also note that UNH has a PEG ratio of 1.49 right now. 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. The Medical – HMOs industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 1.26 as of yesterday’s close.
The Medical – HMOs industry is part of the Medical sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 172, putting it in the bottom 33% 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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