UnitedHealth Group (UNH) Competitors

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

Which has more risk & volatility, UNH or ELV?

UnitedHealth Group has a beta of 0.44, suggesting that its stock price is 56% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Elevance Health has a beta of 0.6, suggesting that its stock price is 40% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do insiders and institutionals believe in UNH or ELV?

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

Does the media favor UNH or ELV?

In the previous week, UnitedHealth Group had 42 more articles in the media than Elevance Health. MarketBeat recorded 94 mentions for UnitedHealth Group and 52 mentions for Elevance Health. UnitedHealth Group's average media sentiment score of 0.80 beat Elevance Health's score of 0.55 indicating that UnitedHealth Group is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
UnitedHealth Group	53 Very Positive mention(s)	14 Positive mention(s)	20 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Elevance Health	25 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	21 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in UNH or ELV?

UnitedHealth Group received 870 more outperform votes than Elevance Health when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 80.41% of users gave UnitedHealth Group an outperform vote while only 67.30% of users gave Elevance Health an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
UnitedHealth Group	Outperform Votes 1753 80.41%	Underperform Votes 427 19.59%
Elevance Health	Outperform Votes 883 67.30%	Underperform Votes 429 32.70%

Is UNH or ELV a better dividend stock?

UnitedHealth Group pays an annual dividend of $8.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. Elevance Health pays an annual dividend of $6.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. UnitedHealth Group pays out 37.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Elevance Health pays out 26.7% 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. UnitedHealth Group has increased its dividend for 15 consecutive years and Elevance Health has increased its dividend for 14 consecutive years. UnitedHealth Group is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Is UNH or ELV 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
UnitedHealth Group	3.60%	26.69%	8.80%
Elevance Health	3.38%	18.28%	6.72%

Do analysts recommend UNH or ELV?

UnitedHealth Group presently has a consensus target price of $428.43, suggesting a potential upside of 40.98%. Elevance Health has a consensus target price of $498.87, suggesting a potential upside of 29.92%. Given UnitedHealth Group's higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe UnitedHealth Group is more favorable than Elevance Health.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
UnitedHealth Group	1 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	17 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67
Elevance Health	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	12 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.75

Which has stronger earnings and valuation, UNH or ELV?

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
UnitedHealth Group	$410.06B	0.67	$14.41B	$23.88	12.73
Elevance Health	$183.12B	0.47	$5.98B	$25.63	14.98

Summary

UnitedHealth Group beats Elevance Health on 16 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.