UnitedHealth Group (UNH) Competitors

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

Does the media refer more to ELV or UNH?

In the previous week, UnitedHealth Group had 5 more articles in the media than Elevance Health. MarketBeat recorded 18 mentions for UnitedHealth Group and 13 mentions for Elevance Health. Elevance Health's average media sentiment score of 0.32 beat UnitedHealth Group's score of 0.16 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	3 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	3 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
UnitedHealth Group	3 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	9 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	3 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in ELV or UNH?

UnitedHealth Group received 853 more outperform votes than Elevance Health when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 80.53% of users gave UnitedHealth Group an outperform vote while only 67.21% of users gave Elevance Health an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Elevance Health	Outperform Votes 863 67.21%	Underperform Votes 421 32.79%
UnitedHealth Group	Outperform Votes 1716 80.53%	Underperform Votes 415 19.47%

Do institutionals and insiders believe in ELV or UNH?

89.2% of Elevance Health shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 87.9% of UnitedHealth Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.4% of Elevance Health shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of UnitedHealth Group shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Is ELV or UNH more profitable?

Elevance Health has a net margin of 3.68% compared to UnitedHealth Group's net margin of 3.63%. UnitedHealth Group's return on equity of 26.37% beat Elevance Health's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Elevance Health	3.68%	19.56%	7.22%
UnitedHealth Group	3.63%	26.37%	8.80%

Do analysts rate ELV or UNH?

Elevance Health presently has a consensus target price of $539.20, suggesting a potential upside of 47.34%. UnitedHealth Group has a consensus target price of $626.84, suggesting a potential upside of 25.34%. Given Elevance Health's higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Elevance Health is more favorable than UnitedHealth Group.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Elevance Health	1 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	12 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.81
UnitedHealth Group	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	17 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.95

Which has stronger valuation & earnings, ELV or UNH?

UnitedHealth Group has higher revenue and earnings than Elevance Health. Elevance Health is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than UnitedHealth Group, 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	$174.02B	0.49	$5.99B	$27.43	13.34
UnitedHealth Group	$389.07B	1.18	$22.38B	$15.35	32.58

Is ELV or UNH a better dividend stock?

Elevance Health pays an annual dividend of $6.52 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. UnitedHealth Group pays an annual dividend of $8.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. Elevance Health pays out 23.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. UnitedHealth Group pays out 54.7% 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. Elevance Health has raised its dividend for 13 consecutive years and UnitedHealth Group has raised its dividend for 15 consecutive years. Elevance Health is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Which has more volatility & risk, ELV or UNH?

Elevance Health has a beta of 0.83, suggesting that its stock price is 17% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, UnitedHealth Group has a beta of 0.58, suggesting that its stock price is 42% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

UnitedHealth Group beats Elevance Health on 13 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks.