Health insurance provider UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) has been trending lower since early December. Unlike most stocks that bottomed in December and have since been trending higher, UnitedHealth peaked in early December and then fell sharply. It rallied with the market in January but then peaked again in February before falling sharply yet again.
If we connect the highs from December and February we get a downward sloped trend line and the stock just hit that trend line earlier this week. Now the stock has turned lower and it looks as though the resistance will hold.
We see that the 10-day RSI and the daily stochastic readings were both in overbought territory earlier this week, but have now turned lower. The stochastic readings made a bearish crossover on May 23.
The Tickeron AI Trend Prediction Engine generated a bearish signal on UnitedHealth Group on May 22. That signal showed a confidence level of 73% and it calls for a decline of at least 4% over the next month. Past predictions on the stock have been successful 75% of the time.
What is really interesting about Unitedhealth Group is that the fundamental indicators aren’t that bad. In fact, they’re pretty good. The company has grown earnings at a rate of 27% per year over the last three years and the EPS were up 23% in the most recent report. Sales have grown as well, but not as well as earnings. The average annual rate of revenue growth for the last three years was 11%.
Looking at Investor’s Business Daily’s EPS and SMR rating system, UnitedHealth Group scores a 95 on the EPS rating and a B on the SMR rating. Both of those numbers are above average, but the Relative Price Strength rating is a 43. That reading is below average.