UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $2.10

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, November 6th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a dividend of 2.10 per share by the healthcare conglomerate on Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.40%.

UnitedHealth Group has increased its dividend payment by an average of 14.7% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 15 years. UnitedHealth Group has a payout ratio of 27.9% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect UnitedHealth Group to earn $30.28 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $8.40 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 27.7%.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 5.4 %

UnitedHealth Group stock traded up $30.84 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $597.87. The stock had a trading volume of 911,396 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,873,597. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $580.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $543.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $552.09 billion, a PE ratio of 36.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.58. UnitedHealth Group has a 12 month low of $436.38 and a 12 month high of $608.63.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.00 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $100.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.14 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.37% and a net margin of 3.63%. The company’s revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $6.56 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group will post 27.61 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UNH has been the subject of several research reports. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $675.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Jefferies Financial Group raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $481.00 to $647.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $601.00 to $609.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $615.53.

About UnitedHealth Group

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated operates as a diversified health care company in the United States. The company operates through four segments: UnitedHealthcare, Optum Health, Optum Insight, and Optum Rx. The UnitedHealthcare segment offers consumer-oriented health benefit plans and services for national employers, public sector employers, mid-sized employers, small businesses, and individuals; health care coverage, and health and well-being services to individuals age 50 and older addressing their needs; Medicaid plans, children's health insurance and health care programs; and health and dental benefits, and hospital and clinical services, as well as health care benefits products and services to state programs caring for the economically disadvantaged, medically underserved, and those without the benefit of employer-funded health care coverage.