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

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, November 6th, RTT News reports. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th.

UnitedHealth Group has raised its dividend by an average of 14.7% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 15 years. UnitedHealth Group has a dividend 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 Stock Up 5.2 %

Shares of NYSE:UNH opened at $596.69 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.91. UnitedHealth Group has a 1 year low of $436.38 and a 1 year high of $608.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $551.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.87, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.58. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $581.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $543.74.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.00 by $0.15. The business 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 for the quarter was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $6.56 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group will post 27.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on UNH shares. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $597.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. UBS Group reduced their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $680.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. KeyCorp began coverage on UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, October 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $675.00 target price for the company. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $625.00 target price (down from $640.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.