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UnitedHealth Group (UNH) Stock Slides as Market Rises: Facts to Know Before You Trade

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The most recent trading session ended with UnitedHealth Group (UNH - Free Report) standing at $489.23, reflecting a -1.59% shift from the previouse trading day's closing. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.77%. Elsewhere, the Dow saw an upswing of 0.49%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq appreciated by 0.95%.

The the stock of largest U.S. health insurer has fallen by 5.24% in the past month, lagging the Medical sector's gain of 1.49% and the S&P 500's gain of 3.71%.

The investment community will be paying close attention to the earnings performance of UnitedHealth Group in its upcoming release. The company is slated to reveal its earnings on July 16, 2024. The company is predicted to post an EPS of $6.70, indicating a 9.12% growth compared to the equivalent quarter last year. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $98.92 billion, up 6.48% from the year-ago period.

For the annual period, the Zacks Consensus Estimates anticipate earnings of $27.57 per share and a revenue of $398.24 billion, signifying shifts of +9.75% and +7.16%, respectively, from the last year.

Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for UnitedHealth Group. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.

Our research reveals that these estimate alterations are directly linked with the stock price performance in the near future. 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.

Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. Over the past month, there's been a 0.1% fall in the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate. Right now, UnitedHealth Group possesses a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

From a valuation perspective, UnitedHealth Group is currently exchanging hands at a Forward P/E ratio of 18.03. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 16.13, which means UnitedHealth Group is trading at a premium to the group.

Meanwhile, UNH's PEG ratio is currently 1.44. Comparable to the widely accepted P/E ratio, the PEG ratio also accounts for the company's projected earnings growth. UNH's industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.23 as of yesterday's close.

The Medical - HMOs industry is part of the Medical sector. This industry, currently bearing a Zacks Industry Rank of 71, finds itself in the top 29% echelons of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the strength of our separate industry groups by calculating the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks contained within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Remember to apply Zacks.com to follow these and more stock-moving metrics during the upcoming trading sessions.


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