Are Robust Financials Driving The Recent Rally In UnitedHealth Group Incorporated's (NYSE:UNH) Stock?
UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) has had a great run on the share market with its stock up by a significant 15% over the last three months. Given that the market rewards strong financials in the long-term, we wonder if that is the case in this instance. Specifically, we decided to study UnitedHealth Group's ROE in this article.
Return on equity or ROE is a key measure used to assess how efficiently a company's management is utilizing the company's capital. In simpler terms, it measures the profitability of a company in relation to shareholder's equity.
Check out our latest analysis for UnitedHealth Group
How Is ROE Calculated?
The formula for ROE is:
Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) ÷ Shareholders' Equity
So, based on the above formula, the ROE for UnitedHealth Group is:
17% = US$16b ÷ US$97b (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2024).
The 'return' is the profit over the last twelve months. One way to conceptualize this is that for each $1 of shareholders' capital it has, the company made $0.17 in profit.
Why Is ROE Important For Earnings Growth?
We have already established that ROE serves as an efficient profit-generating gauge for a company's future earnings. Based on how much of its profits the company chooses to reinvest or "retain", we are then able to evaluate a company's future ability to generate profits. Generally speaking, other things being equal, firms with a high return on equity and profit retention, have a higher growth rate than firms that don’t share these attributes.
UnitedHealth Group's Earnings Growth And 17% ROE
At first glance, UnitedHealth Group seems to have a decent ROE. Further, the company's ROE compares quite favorably to the industry average of 11%. Probably as a result of this, UnitedHealth Group was able to see a decent growth of 9.5% over the last five years.
Next, on comparing with the industry net income growth, we found that UnitedHealth Group's growth is quite high when compared to the industry average growth of 5.6% in the same period, which is great to see.
Earnings growth is an important metric to consider when valuing a stock. The investor should try to establish if the expected growth or decline in earnings, whichever the case may be, is priced in. This then helps them determine if the stock is placed for a bright or bleak future. Is UnitedHealth Group fairly valued compared to other companies? These 3 valuation measures might help you decide.
Is UnitedHealth Group Efficiently Re-investing Its Profits?
UnitedHealth Group has a healthy combination of a moderate three-year median payout ratio of 30% (or a retention ratio of 70%) and a respectable amount of growth in earnings as we saw above, meaning that the company has been making efficient use of its profits.
Besides, UnitedHealth Group has been paying dividends for at least ten years or more. This shows that the company is committed to sharing profits with its shareholders. Upon studying the latest analysts' consensus data, we found that the company is expected to keep paying out approximately 27% of its profits over the next three years. However, UnitedHealth Group's ROE is predicted to rise to 26% despite there being no anticipated change in its payout ratio.
Conclusion
On the whole, we feel that UnitedHealth Group's performance has been quite good. Specifically, we like that the company is reinvesting a huge chunk of its profits at a high rate of return. This of course has caused the company to see substantial growth in its earnings. That being so, the latest analyst forecasts show that the company will continue to see an expansion in its earnings. To know more about the latest analysts predictions for the company, check out this visualization of analyst forecasts for the company.
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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com