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If You Invested $1000 in UnitedHealth Group a Decade Ago, This is How Much It'd Be Worth Now

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For most investors, how much a stock's price changes over time is important. This factor can impact your investment portfolio as well as help you compare investment results across sectors and industries.

Another factor that can influence investors is FOMO, or the fear of missing out, especially with tech giants and popular consumer-facing stocks.

What if you'd invested in UnitedHealth Group (UNH - Free Report) ten years ago? It may not have been easy to hold on to UNH for all that time, but if you did, how much would your investment be worth today?

UnitedHealth Group's Business In-Depth

With that in mind, let's take a look at UnitedHealth Group's main business drivers.

UnitedHealth Group, Inc. provides a wide range of health care products and services, such as health maintenance organizations (HMOs), point of service plans (POS), preferred provider organizations (PPOs), and managed fee-for-service programs.

UnitedHealth has the largest and most diverse membership base within the managed-care organization market, which gives it significant competitive advantages. It has built its prescription drug business through OptumRx division, with the acquisition of Catamaran. The company has acquired a number of competing healthcare providers. These acquisitions have transformed it from a pure health insurer to a comprehensive healthcare provider.

UnitedHealth consists of two business platforms - UnitedHealthcare and Optum. Its strategy is to meld the provision of medical care from its Optum unit with UnitedHealthcare brand insurance products, which help in cross-selling products and services. The company is consistently working toward expanding both these units to reach more clients, in turn boosting its growth possibilities. Within these platforms are included the four reportable segments of UNH – UnitedHealthcare, OptumHealth, OptumInsight and OptumRx.

UnitedHealthcare (contributed 77% of revenues in 2022) is divided into UnitedHealthcare Employer & Individual; UnitedHealthcare Medicare & Retirement; UnitedHealthcare Community & State and UnitedHealthcare Global. This segment is responsible for providing health care benefits globally. It serves individuals as well as employers. Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries consist a large chunk of its client list.

Optum (23%) is a technology-enabled health services business serving the broad health care marketplace, including those who need care: the consumers who need the right support, information, resources and products; those who provide care: pharmacies, hospitals, physicians, practices and other health care facilities. The platform is divided into three segments - OptumHealth, OptumInsight and OptumRx.

Bottom Line

Anyone can invest, but building a successful investment portfolio takes a combination of a few things: research, patience, and a little bit of risk. So, if you had invested in UnitedHealth Group a decade ago, you're probably feeling pretty good about your investment today.

A $1000 investment made in April 2013 would be worth $8,200.16, or a 720.02% gain, as of April 6, 2023, according to our calculations. Investors should note that this return excludes dividends but includes price increases.

The S&P 500 rose 163.34% and the price of gold increased 22.92% over the same time frame in comparison.

Going forward, analysts are expecting more upside for UNH.

UnitedHealth Group’s top line remains well-poised for growth on the back of a strong market position, new deals, renewed agreements and expansion of service offerings. Revenues for 2023 are predicted to lie within $357-$360 billion. We expect the top line to grow 10.2% year over year in 2023. Its solid health services segment provides diversification benefits. UNH's Government business remains well-poised for growth. Adjusted net earnings per share are anticipated in the $24.40-$24.90 band in 2023, the mid-point of which indicates an 11.1% rise from the 2022 figure. A sturdy balance sheet enables business investments. Its shares have outperformed the industry year to date. However, the membership in its global business continues to decline. Rising operating costs are hurting margins. As such, the stock warrants a cautious stance.

Over the past four weeks, shares have rallied 8.21%, and there have been 1 higher earnings estimate revisions in the past two months for fiscal 2023 compared to none lower. The consensus estimate has moved up as well.

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