4. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE: UNH)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 89
Dividend Yield: 1.4%
Number of Years of Consistent Dividend Growth: 11
UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE: UNH) is an American healthcare company operating to provide consumer-oriented health benefit plans and services, Medicaid plans, children’s health insurance programs, and other related products and services. It ranks 4th on our list of the best blue chip dividend stocks hedge funds are buying.
This July, UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE: UNH) raised its full-year net earnings view to $17.35-$17.85 per share, while raising its EPS view to $18.30-$18.80 per share in light of its performance in the first half of 2021. Seaport Global has also initiated coverage of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE: UNH) shares with a Buy rating and a $450 price target.
In the first quarter of 2021, UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE: UNH) had an EPS of $5.31, beating estimates by $0.93. The company’s revenue was $70.20 billion, up 8.96% year over year and beating estimates by $1.10 billion. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE: UNH) has gained 18.06% in the past 6 months and 18.67% year to date.
By the end of the first quarter of 2021, 89 hedge funds out of the 866 tracked by Insider Monkey held stakes in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE: UNH) worth roughly $12.09 billion. This is compared to 91 hedge funds in the previous quarter with stakes worth about $10.77 billion.
ClearBridge Investments, an investment management firm, mentioned UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE: UNH) in its first-quarter 2021 investor letter. Here’s what they said:
“A good way to conceptualize how we think about portfolio construction is to picture a pyramid. At the bottom of the pyramid are the durable compounding growth companies that form the strong foundation, resilience and consistency for the Strategy. We think these companies should comprise just under half of portfolio assets and feature annual revenue growth rates ranging from two times GDP up to 20% as well as healthy free cash flow generation.
UnitedHealth Group, a name we have owned in the Strategy since 1992, is a good example of a long-term compounder, having grown its revenue base from approximately $600 million to north of $260 billion over that time frame. It remains constantly focused on investing in new growth drivers such as telemedicine and health care analytics. Broadcom and Comcast have delivered similar long-term appreciation through a combination of organic growth, capital deployment into new and adjacent opportunities through merger and acquisition activity as well as returning capital to shareholders through buybacks and dividends.”
