Reviewing OPKO Health (NASDAQ:OPK) and UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH)

OPKO Health (NASDAQ:OPK) and UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) are both healthcare companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, risk, analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation and profitability.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
OPKO Health	-29.51%	-10.90%	-6.93%
UnitedHealth Group	3.53%	17.95%	5.95%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for OPKO Health and UnitedHealth Group, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
OPKO Health	1	2	4	0	2.43
UnitedHealth Group	0	8	20	0	2.71

OPKO Health presently has a consensus target price of $3.42, indicating a potential upside of 103.98%. UnitedHealth Group has a consensus target price of $463.93, indicating a potential upside of 16.35%. Given OPKO Health’s higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe OPKO Health is more favorable than UnitedHealth Group.

Risk and Volatility

OPKO Health has a beta of 1.52, suggesting that its share price is 52% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, UnitedHealth Group has a beta of 0.51, suggesting that its share price is 49% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

64.6% of OPKO Health shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 87.9% of UnitedHealth Group shares are held by institutional investors. 44.7% of OPKO Health shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of UnitedHealth Group shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares OPKO Health and UnitedHealth Group”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
OPKO Health	$654.10 million	1.90	-$225.68 million	($0.19)	-8.82
UnitedHealth Group	$447.57 billion	0.80	$12.06 billion	$17.51	22.77

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

Summary

UnitedHealth Group beats OPKO Health on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About OPKO Health

OPKO Health is a healthcare company with businesses in diagnostics and pharmaceuticals. Its diagnostic offerings have included BioReference Health laboratory services and the 4Kscore test, which helps assess the risk of aggressive prostate cancer. OPKO’s pharmaceutical products include Rayaldee, a prescription treatment for certain adults with chronic kidney disease and vitamin D insufficiency. The company also co-developed NGENLA, a long-acting growth hormone treatment for children with growth hormone deficiency, with Pfizer.

About UnitedHealth Group

UnitedHealth Group is a diversified health care company that provides health benefits and health services through two main businesses: UnitedHealthcare and Optum. UnitedHealthcare offers health insurance and related benefit plans to individuals, employers and government programs, including Medicare and Medicaid. Optum provides services across the health care system, including care delivery, pharmacy services, pharmacy benefit management, health technology and data analytics. Its businesses serve consumers, health care providers, employers, health plans and government organizations.