UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $2.21

Key Points

• UnitedHealth Group has declared a quarterly dividend of $2.21 per share, to be paid on September 23rd, reflecting an annualized yield of 3.3%.
• The company's current payout ratio is 32.0%, indicating it can sufficiently cover its dividend with earnings, and analysts expect future earnings to support a 25.3% payout ratio.
• UnitedHealth Group's stock recently increased by 3.1% during trading hours, reaching a price of $269.80, with analysts maintaining mixed ratings on the stock.

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, August 13th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a dividend of 2.21 per share by the healthcare conglomerate on Tuesday, September 23rd. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%.

UnitedHealth Group has a payout ratio of 32.0% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect UnitedHealth Group to earn $33.22 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $8.40 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 25.3%.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 3.1%

NYSE:UNH traded up $8.23 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $269.80. 8,689,249 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,074,818. UnitedHealth Group has a twelve month low of $234.60 and a twelve month high of $630.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $289.94 and a 200 day moving average of $402.24. The stock has a market cap of $244.74 billion, a PE ratio of 11.71, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.43.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $4.45 by ($0.37). UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 23.32% and a net margin of 5.04%. The firm had revenue of $111.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.75 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $6.80 EPS. The company's revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on UNH shares. Wolfe Research dropped their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $501.00 to $390.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $515.00 to $350.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Robert W. Baird reiterated an "underperform" rating and set a $198.00 price objective (down previously from $312.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $400.00 to $350.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $366.52.

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.

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