Elevance Health (ELV) Competitors

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) and UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) are both large-cap medical companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their community ranking, valuation, analyst recommendations, media sentiment, earnings, risk, dividends, profitability and institutional ownership.

Is ELV or UNH more profitable?

UnitedHealth Group has a net margin of 3.60% compared to Elevance Health's net margin of 3.38%. UnitedHealth Group's return on equity of 26.69% beat Elevance Health's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Elevance Health	3.38%	18.28%	6.72%
UnitedHealth Group	3.60%	26.69%	8.80%

Which has more risk and volatility, ELV or UNH?

Elevance Health has a beta of 0.66, suggesting that its share price is 34% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, UnitedHealth Group has a beta of 0.56, suggesting that its share price is 44% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do institutionals & insiders hold more shares of ELV or UNH?

89.2% of Elevance Health shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 87.9% of UnitedHealth Group shares are held by institutional investors. 0.3% of Elevance Health shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of UnitedHealth Group shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Is ELV or UNH a better dividend stock?

Elevance Health pays an annual dividend of $6.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. UnitedHealth Group pays an annual dividend of $8.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. Elevance Health pays out 26.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. UnitedHealth Group pays out 35.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Elevance Health has increased its dividend for 14 consecutive years and UnitedHealth Group has increased its dividend for 15 consecutive years. UnitedHealth Group is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Does the MarketBeat Community favor ELV or UNH?

UnitedHealth Group received 869 more outperform votes than Elevance Health when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 80.49% of users gave UnitedHealth Group an outperform vote while only 67.23% of users gave Elevance Health an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Elevance Health	Outperform Votes 880 67.23%	Underperform Votes 429 32.77%
UnitedHealth Group	Outperform Votes 1749 80.49%	Underperform Votes 424 19.51%

Which has preferable earnings and valuation, ELV or UNH?

UnitedHealth Group has higher revenue and earnings than Elevance Health. UnitedHealth Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Elevance Health, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Elevance Health	$183.12B	0.51	$5.98B	$25.63	16.09
UnitedHealth Group	$410.06B	0.71	$14.41B	$23.88	13.47

Does the media prefer ELV or UNH?

In the previous week, UnitedHealth Group had 205 more articles in the media than Elevance Health. MarketBeat recorded 267 mentions for UnitedHealth Group and 62 mentions for Elevance Health. Elevance Health's average media sentiment score of 0.78 beat UnitedHealth Group's score of 0.31 indicating that Elevance Health is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Elevance Health	31 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	25 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	2 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
UnitedHealth Group	84 Very Positive mention(s)	48 Positive mention(s)	45 Neutral mention(s)	49 Negative mention(s)	10 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Do analysts rate ELV or UNH?

Elevance Health currently has a consensus target price of $510.38, suggesting a potential upside of 23.73%. UnitedHealth Group has a consensus target price of $451.43, suggesting a potential upside of 40.30%. Given UnitedHealth Group's higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe UnitedHealth Group is more favorable than Elevance Health.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Elevance Health	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	13 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.76
UnitedHealth Group	0 Sell rating(s)	8 Hold rating(s)	17 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.73

Summary

UnitedHealth Group beats Elevance Health on 16 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks.