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 compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation, earnings, profitability, community ranking, risk, institutional ownership and media sentiment.

Is UNH or ELV a better dividend stock?

UnitedHealth Group pays an annual dividend of $8.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.0%. Elevance Health pays an annual dividend of $6.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.6%. UnitedHealth Group pays out 35.2% 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.

Which has more risk & volatility, UNH or ELV?

UnitedHealth Group has a beta of 0.61, indicating that its stock price is 39% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Elevance Health has a beta of 0.77, indicating that its stock price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do institutionals & insiders have more ownership 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 hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Does the media prefer UNH or ELV?

In the previous week, UnitedHealth Group had 144 more articles in the media than Elevance Health. MarketBeat recorded 216 mentions for UnitedHealth Group and 72 mentions for Elevance Health. Elevance Health's average media sentiment score of 1.16 beat UnitedHealth Group's score of 0.56 indicating that Elevance Health is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
UnitedHealth Group	90 Very Positive mention(s)	35 Positive mention(s)	28 Neutral mention(s)	39 Negative mention(s)	9 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Elevance Health	43 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	14 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer UNH or ELV?

UnitedHealth Group received 855 more outperform votes than Elevance Health when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 80.55% of users gave UnitedHealth Group an outperform vote while only 67.28% of users gave Elevance Health an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
UnitedHealth Group	Outperform Votes 1735 80.55%	Underperform Votes 419 19.45%
Elevance Health	Outperform Votes 880 67.28%	Underperform Votes 428 32.72%

Which has stronger valuation and earnings, UNH or ELV?

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
UnitedHealth Group	$410.06B	0.96	$14.41B	$23.88	17.93
Elevance Health	$176.81B	0.55	$5.98B	$25.61	16.70

Do analysts recommend UNH or ELV?

UnitedHealth Group presently has a consensus target price of $604.67, suggesting a potential upside of 41.19%. Elevance Health has a consensus target price of $509.44, suggesting a potential upside of 19.13%. Given UnitedHealth Group's stronger consensus rating and 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
UnitedHealth Group	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	18 Buy rating(s)	3 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
Elevance Health	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	13 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.76

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%

Summary

UnitedHealth Group beats Elevance Health on 17 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks.