Centene Corporation (CNC) vs UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (UNH)

Centene Corporation and UnitedHealth Group Incorporated are both Healthcare Plans companies. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated is the larger, with a market value of $336.8B against $30.6B — 11.0× the size. Centene Corporation has negative trailing earnings, so its P/E is not meaningful; UnitedHealth Group Incorporated trades at 24.2×. Centene Corporation grew revenue faster over the last twelve months: 13.9% against 6.46%. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has the higher net margin (3.14% vs −2.51%) and the higher return on invested capital (9.50% vs −30.2%). Across the 20 metrics below, Centene Corporation leads on 10 and UnitedHealth Group Incorporated on 10.

Valuation

Metric CNC UNH Healthcare Plans median
P/E n/m 24.23 23.75
P/S 0.15 0.75 0.40
P/B 1.35 3.25 2.48
Price to free cash flow 3.41 14.38 11.15
EV/EBITDA n/m 14.55 10.94
EV/Sales 0.10 0.84 0.37
Earnings yield (16.82%) 4.13% 3.25%
Free cash flow yield 29.32% 6.95% 8.15%

Profitability

Metric CNC UNH Healthcare Plans median
Gross margin 7.82% 19.51% 19.04%
Operating margin (2.78%) 4.82% 1.93%
Net margin (2.51%) 3.14% 1.04%
Free cash flow margin 4.41% 5.25% 3.18%
Return on equity (20.35%) 13.78% 12.48%
Return on assets (6.02%) 4.57% 2.98%
Return on invested capital (30.17%) 9.50% 2.04%

Growth

Metric CNC UNH Healthcare Plans median
Revenue growth (TTM) 13.89% 6.46% 7.57%
EPS growth (last fiscal year) (314.42%) (14.70%) —
Revenue growth, 5-year CAGR 11.88% 11.72% 11.88%
Net income growth, 5-year CAGR 0.00% (4.78%) 0.00%

Health

Metric CNC UNH Healthcare Plans median
Debt to equity 0.71 0.67 0.70
Current ratio 1.15 0.78 1.32
Net debt to EBITDA 0.46 1.89 0.05

Dividend

Metric CNC UNH Healthcare Plans median
Dividend yield — 1.53% 1.53%
Payout ratio 0.00 0.31 0.00

Size

Metric CNC UNH Healthcare Plans median
Market cap 30.59b 336.83b 20.34b

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