UnitedHealth Group Inc. (UNH, Financial) released its financial results for the first quarter of 2017 on April 18.
The managed health care company headquartered in Minnetonka, Minnesota, generated adjusted EPS of $2.37, a 31% increase on a year-over year-basis, and beat analysts' expectations by 20 cents. The difference between the actual EPS and estimated EPS generated a positive surprise of 9.2%.
Source: Yahoo Finance
Operating income and net income for the quarter were $3.4 billion and $2.17 billion, 15.3% and 34.8% higher than those ones of one year ago. During the quarter, the company generated $6.5 billion in cash flow from operations, a 178.5% increase from a year ago.
UnitedHealth closed the quarter with approximately $19.4 billion in cash and securities and $26.154 billion in long-term debt. The latter does not include debt that matures in 2017.
In the first quarter of 2017, total revenues came in at $48.7 billion, a 9.4% increase on a year-over-year basis. With $38.9 billion, Premiums contributed to 80% of the company's consolidated revenue. Sales for the quarter were $6.1 billlion (12.6% of total revenue), a 4.1% decline from the comparable quarter of 2016. Services generated $3.4 billion (7.05% of total revenue), a 9.4% increase on a year-over-year basis. The investment and other income segment generated revenues of $222 million, up from $183 million in first-quarter 2016.
UnitedHealth Group's subsidiary, UnitedHealthcare, generated sales of $40.1 billion, a 11.8% increase on a year-over-year basis. Employer and individual revenues were $12.7 billion, a 0.6% decrease on a year-over-year basis. Medicare and retirement revenues were $16.6 billion, a 17.7% increase compared to the first quarter of 2016. Community and state revenues were $8.9 billion, a 15.8% increase from the comparable quarter a year ago. Global revenues were $1.9 billion, a 47.3% increase on a year-over-year basis.
Optum revenues came in at $21.2 billion, a 7.9% increase from the comparable quarter of 2016. OptumHealth closed the quarter with $4.7 billion in revenue, an 18.4% increase from a year ago. OptumInsight revenue was $1.8 billion, a 10.6% increase from the comparable quarter a year ago. OptumRx revenue was $1.5 billion, 4.7% higher than the comparable quarter of 2016.
For 2017, UnitedHealth Group expects revenues to come in at $200 billion, GAAP EPS to range between $9.10 and $9.30 and adjusted EPS to range between $9.65 and $9.85. Operating cash flow is expected to be about $12 billion.
UnitedHealth CEO Stephen J. Hemsley said, “Our focus on quality and consistency in everything we do for those we serve across the health system continues to strengthen our business each quarter. These efforts are driving consistent growth and strong bottom line performance across our businesses.”.
UnitedHealth closed at $168.59 per share yesterday, up $1.41 or 0.84% from the previous trading day, with a volume of 5.526 million shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange.
The company has 964.85 million shares outstanding, of which approximately 98% is float. The market capitalization is $162.66 billion.
UnitedHealth distributes an annual dividend of $2.50 per share through quarterly payments of 62.5 cents, for a dividend yield of 1.50%.
Disclosure: I have no positions in UnitedHealth Group Inc.
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