Reviewing UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) & NeueHealth (NYSE:NEUE)

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) and NeueHealth (NYSE:NEUE) are both medical companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, risk, earnings, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, profitability and dividends.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for UnitedHealth Group and NeueHealth, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
UnitedHealth Group	0	3	15	0	2.83
NeueHealth	0	1	0	0	2.00

UnitedHealth Group currently has a consensus target price of $570.05, suggesting a potential upside of 15.64%. NeueHealth has a consensus target price of $8.00, suggesting a potential upside of 31.80%. Given NeueHealth’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe NeueHealth is more favorable than UnitedHealth Group.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares UnitedHealth Group and NeueHealth’s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
UnitedHealth Group	$371.62 billion	1.22	$22.38 billion	$16.36	30.13
NeueHealth	$1.16 billion	0.04	-$1.15 billion	($151.20)	-0.04

UnitedHealth Group has higher revenue and earnings than NeueHealth. NeueHealth is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than UnitedHealth Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares UnitedHealth Group and NeueHealth’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
UnitedHealth Group	4.05%	26.50%	8.60%
NeueHealth	-71.23%	N/A	-1.21%

Volatility and Risk

UnitedHealth Group has a beta of 0.55, suggesting that its stock price is 45% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, NeueHealth has a beta of 0.77, suggesting that its stock price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

87.9% of UnitedHealth Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 63.9% of NeueHealth shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.4% of UnitedHealth Group shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 64.3% of NeueHealth shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

UnitedHealth Group beats NeueHealth on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

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. The Optum Health segment provides care delivery, care management, wellness and consumer engagement, and health financial services patients, consumers, care delivery systems, providers, employers, payers, and public-sector entities. The Optum Insight segment offers software and information products, advisory consulting arrangements, and managed services outsourcing contracts to hospital systems, physicians, health plans, governments, life sciences companies, and other organizations. The Optum Rx segment provides pharmacy care services and programs, including retail network contracting, home delivery, specialty and community health pharmacy services, infusion, and purchasing and clinical capabilities, as well as develops programs in the areas of step therapy, formulary management, drug adherence, and disease/drug therapy management. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated was founded in 1974 and is based in Minnetonka, Minnesota.

About NeueHealth

NeueHealth, Inc., a healthcare company, provides various healthcare services for health consumers, providers, and payors in the United States. It operates through two segments: NeueCare and NeueSolutions. The NeueCare segment delivers healthcare services to ACA marketplace, medicare, and medicaid through owned and affiliated clinics. It operates risk-bearing clinics under the Centrum Health, AssociatesMD, and Premier Medical Associates brand names. The company also offers integrated system care solution, such as embedded pharmacy, laboratory, radiology, and population health focused specialty services; and chronic care management, transitions of care, and referral management services. The NeueSolutions segment enables providers and medical groups to succeed in performance-based arrangements; and participates in the centers for healthcare access to medicare beneficiaries. The company was formerly known as Bright Health Group, Inc. and changed its name to NeueHealth, Inc. in January 2024. NeueHealth, Inc. was incorporated in 2015 and is headquartered in Doral, Florida.