UnitedHealth Group (UNH) Stock Moves -0.46%: What You Should Know

UnitedHealth Group (UNH) closed the most recent trading day at $244.41, moving -0.46% from the previous trading session. This change lagged the S&P 500's 0% on the day. Elsewhere, the Dow lost 0.3%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 0.25%.

Heading into today, shares of the largest U.S. health insurer had gained 4.03% over the past month, outpacing the Medical sector's loss of 0.21% and the S&P 500's gain of 2.36% in that time.

UNH will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release, which is expected to be April 16, 2019. In that report, analysts expect UNH to post earnings of $3.59 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 18.09%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $59.66 billion, up 8.11% from the prior-year quarter.

UNH's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $14.62 per share and revenue of $244.23 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +13.51% and +7.95%, respectively.

Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for UNH. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. 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, 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. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.01% higher within the past month. UNH is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Digging into valuation, UNH currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 16.79. This valuation marks a premium compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 15.2.

Also, we should mention that UNH has a PEG ratio of 1.26. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. UNH's industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.17 as of yesterday's close.

The Medical - HMOs industry is part of the Medical sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 58, which puts it in the top 23% 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.

You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.