UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.15 EPS

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.00 by $0.15, Briefing.com reports. The company had revenue of $100.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.14 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.66% and a return on equity of 26.55%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $6.56 earnings per share. UnitedHealth Group updated its FY 2024 guidance to 27.500-27.750 EPS and its FY24 guidance to $27.50-27.75 EPS.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:UNH opened at $561.50 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $584.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $532.84. The stock has a market cap of $518.50 billion, a PE ratio of 37.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. UnitedHealth Group has a one year low of $436.38 and a one year high of $608.63.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.70%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on UNH shares. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Bank of America lowered their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $675.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $597.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Stephens lowered their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $632.00 to $605.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Argus upped their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $615.16.

About UnitedHealth Group

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated operates as a diversified health care company in the United States. The company operates through four segments: UnitedHealthcare, Optum Health, Optum Insight, and Optum Rx. The UnitedHealthcare segment offers consumer-oriented health benefit plans and services for national employers, public sector employers, mid-sized employers, small businesses, and individuals; health care coverage, and health and well-being services to individuals age 50 and older addressing their needs; Medicaid plans, children's health insurance and health care programs; and health and dental benefits, and hospital and clinical services, as well as health care benefits products and services to state programs caring for the economically disadvantaged, medically underserved, and those without the benefit of employer-funded health care coverage.