Tuesday May 30, 2017

Today’s Research Daily features new research reports on 16 major stocks, including UnitedHealth Group Inc (UNH), Union Pacific Corporation (UNP) and Biogen Inc (BIIB). You can see all of today’s research reports here >>>

Buy Rated UnitedHealth Group’s continued strong growth at Optum as well as UnitedHealthcare segments are driving growth. Its international business and strong capital position are other positives. Moreover, the company has reduced its exposure to the troubled public exchange business. Though this move will shield it from losses in this business, the company’s premium revenues are likely to be affected.

UnitedHealth shares have underperformed the Zacks Medical-HMOs industry in the year-to-date period (UnitedHealth is up +10.9% vs. +15.2% gain for the industry). (You can read the full research report on UnitedHealth here >>>).

Union Pacific’s improvement in the coal scenario is very encouraging. Coal volumes are expected to increase in the second quarter, continuing the trend displayed in the first quarter of 2017. The Zacks analyst is also impressed by the company’s efforts to reward investors and control costs.  

The buy-ranked company has appreciated 31.4% in the last year, but has underperformed the Zacks categorized Transportation-Rail industry’s increase of 39%. In fact, the stock has lagged fellow-railroad operator Norfolk Southern, whose shares have gained 45.5% in the last year. (You can read the full research report on Union Pacific here >>>).

Biogen shares have been laggards for a while now; the stock has underperformed the Biomed/Genetics industry in the year-to-date (-11.5% vs. -0.3%). Emergence of new PML cases for Tecfidera would weigh heavily on the stock as would pipeline setbacks. However, Biogen has a strong position in the multiple sclerosis market, backed by a wide range of products including Avonex, Tysabri, Tecfidera & Plegridy. The Zacks analyst is also encouraged by Biogen’s efforts to diversify beyond MS to other areas like Alzheimer's disease. (You can read the full research report on Biogen here >>>).

Other noteworthy reports we are featuring today include United Technologies Corp. (UTX), PNC Financial Services Group Inc. (PNC) and Accenture Plc (ACN).

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Mark Vickery

Senior Editor

Note: Sheraz Mian heads the Zacks Equity Research department and is a well-regarded expert of aggregate earnings. He is frequently quoted in the print and electronic media and publishes the weekly Earnings Trends and Earnings Preview reports. If you want an email notification each time Sheraz publishes a new article, please click here>>>