Bulls vs. Bears: Is UnitedHealth still a good investment?

Shares of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) plummeted after the news broke that UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot. The stock reached a low of $546 before slightly recovering today to over $564, although it is currently down 0.59%.

Twenty-six-year-old “person of interest” Luigi Mangione is now charged with murder and arrested in Pennsylvania. However, a leaked video showed UnitedHealth Group CEO Andrew Witty calling insurance industry critics “vitriolic” and “not in tune with reality,” putting further pressure on the struggling image of the company and the industry as a whole.

Two Seeking Alpha analysts offered opposing views on what is happening with the stock. Seeking Alpha quant metrics rate the company at 3.31, or “hold.” The stock is up 6% year-to-date, and only 2.6% from a year ago.

The Bulls

UnitedHealth’s (UNH) third-quarter revenue was up 9% reaching $101B. The medical insurance company has 2M new commercial customers, has fulfilled 1.6B prescriptions through Optum Rx, and addressed 4.7M patients through their “value-based arrangements,” wrote Leo Nelissen, Seeking Alpha analyst and contributor to iREIT®+HOYA Capital, in an analysis last week.

“The company is expected to boost EPS growth from 8% in 2025 to 13% in 2026, which is the lower end of its long-term guidance range of 13% to 16%,” he said.

“The company remains in a good spot, which is why I stick to a Buy rating… I would be a gradual buyer to use potential corrections to add more aggressively to my position.”

Other pros: the stock has a 15% five-year CAGR and healthy payout ratio; it is using artificial intelligence-driven solutions, and it “consistently reports strong earnings and revenue growth, making it a reliable performer for shareholders.”

The Bears

On the other hand, Seeking Alpha Investing Group Leader The Value Portfolio wrote that UnitedHealth (UNH) faces “substantial long-term risks,” including “public pressure for high claim denial rates and potential policy changes towards a single-payer healthcare system.”

UnitedHealth (UNH) has the highest denial rates in the medical insurance industry at 32%, so “questions are being raised about the healthcare policies he was responsible for in a country that spends more on healthcare per capita than any other major developed nation,” The Value Portfolio wrote.

“There is a growing movement in the United States towards ‘Medicare for All’ type plans,” The Value Portfolio concluded. “Such a plan would potentially put major companies such as UnitedHealth Group (UNH) out of business. Combined with a relatively lofty valuation, a P/E of just under 20, and the growth required, we view UnitedHealth Group as a poor investment at this time.”