UnitedHealth Group has become one of the most searched-for stocks on Zacks.com, with the health insurer's shares down 4.4% over the past month against a 1.4% gain for the Zacks S&P 500 composite. For the current quarter, UnitedHealth is expected to post earnings of $4.12 per share, a change of 41.1% from the year-ago quarter, while the consensus estimate for the current fiscal year stands at $19.85, up 21.4% from the prior year. The consensus sales estimate for the current quarter is $111.38 billion, a year-over-year change of -1.6%, with current and next fiscal year estimates of $446.78 billion and $458.33 billion. In its last reported quarter, UnitedHealth posted revenues of $112.03 billion, up 0.4% year over year, and earnings per share of $6.38 versus $4.08 a year earlier, beating the consensus revenue estimate of $110.12 billion by 1.74% and the EPS estimate by 29.15%. Based on the recent change in the consensus estimate and three other earnings-related factors, UnitedHealth carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), and it is graded A on the Zacks Value Style Score, indicating it trades at a discount to its peers.
UnitedHealth Group IncorporatedZacks rates UnitedHealth a Buy (Rank #2) based on improving consensus estimates and value score, an analyst valuation call.
