UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE:UNH)

Return on Assets (ROA)

The Return on Assets exhibited initial growth from 7.81% in March 2020 up to a peak around 8.19% in March 2023. Between 2020 and early 2023, ROA generally remained within a stable range of approximately 7.3% to 8.2%. However, starting in March 2024, a notable decline is visible, with ROA dropping to a low of 4.78% in September 2024. Towards the end of the period, by March 2025, ROA rebounded to 7.14%. This suggests a temporary dip followed by recovery in asset profitability.

Financial Leverage

Financial Leverage experienced minor fluctuations throughout the observed periods. Initially, it declined from 3.32 in March 2020 to a low of 2.93 in September 2020. Subsequently, the ratio fluctuated around an average near 3.1 with slight increases and decreases, peaking around 3.49 in March 2023. Afterwards, it moved mostly sideways within the range of 3.08 to 3.26 until March 2025. Overall, leverage remained relatively stable, indicating consistent use of debt in the capital structure without significant shifts.

Return on Equity (ROE)

The Return on Equity showed strong performance from March 2020 to early 2023, rising from 23.52% to a peak of 26.03% in December 2022. The upward trend indicates improving shareholder returns during this interval. Beginning in early 2024, ROE declined substantially to a low of 15.14% in September 2024, mirroring the decline observed in ROA. After this decline, ROE recovered to 23.26% by March 2025. This pattern suggests a period of reduced profitability or efficiency, followed by renewed growth in equity returns.

Net Profit Margin

The net profit margin shows an overall fluctuating pattern with values generally around the range of 5.3% to 6.3% from March 2021 through December 2023. However, from March 2024 to December 2024, there is a notable decline, dropping to approximately 3.7% before rebounding to 5.46% by March 2025. This indicates a period of reduced profitability in the early 2024 quarters, followed by a recovery in the first quarter of 2025.

Asset Turnover

The asset turnover ratio remained quite stable across the periods, mostly fluctuating between 1.18 and 1.34. A slight decrease is observed during the middle quarters of 2023, followed by a rebound starting from the end of 2023 through early 2025. The stability suggests consistent efficiency in utilizing assets to generate revenue, with minor short-term variations.

Financial Leverage

Financial leverage values demonstrate relatively small fluctuations between approximately 2.9 and 3.5, without any significant trend upwards or downwards over the observed period. There is some variability quarter to quarter, but the leverage remains within a tight range, indicating a steady approach to the use of debt in financing assets.

Return on Equity (ROE)

Return on equity exhibits a strong pattern corresponding roughly with the profit margin trends. High ROE values above 23% persist from early 2021 until the end of 2023, indicating effective generation of shareholder returns. However, from early 2024, ROE declines sharply to around 15%, correlating with the drop in net profit margin, before improving back to above 23% by March 2025. This cycle points to a temporary period of diminished shareholder returns followed by a recovery.

Tax Burden

The tax burden ratio begins at 0.76 in the first available quarter and generally exhibits a slight increasing trend through the subsequent periods, stabilizing near 0.79 for several quarters. A minor dip is observed around mid to late 2024, reaching approximately 0.73, before rising again to 0.81 by the first quarter of 2025, suggesting some fluctuations in tax efficiency over time.

Interest Burden

The interest burden ratio remains relatively stable initially around 0.92-0.93 through early 2023, but shows a gradual decline starting in late 2023 into 2024, reaching lows near 0.83 by the end of 2024. A slight recovery to 0.87 occurs by the first quarter of 2025, indicating variations in interest expense relative to earnings before interest and tax.

EBIT Margin

The EBIT margin fluctuates between approximately 7.5% and 9.1% during most of the period, peaking near 9.1% in the middle of 2020 but then declining gradually post-2023 to values below 6% before recovering somewhat to 7.76% at the start of 2025. This pattern indicates some volatility in operational profitability margins, with a notable downturn during late 2023 and 2024.

Asset Turnover

Asset turnover stays relatively consistent across periods, mainly fluctuating between 1.3 and 1.34 in early years, with a small dip to around 1.18 mid-2023. It subsequently rises again to values near 1.3-1.34 in 2024, reflecting steady efficiency in the use of assets to generate revenue, with minor short-term variability.

Financial Leverage

Financial leverage ratios fluctuate moderately from about 2.9 to 3.5 across the reported quarters. There is an increase observed around early 2023, peaking at 3.49, followed by a decline during 2024 to slightly above 3.0, before rising again near 3.26 at the beginning of 2025. This signifies varying reliance on debt financing during the timeframe.

Return on Equity (ROE)

The ROE shows a strong performance in the initial periods, ranging from approximately 21% to 26% through early 2023, indicating robust returns to equity holders. Starting in mid-2023, a pronounced downward trend is observed, with ROE declining steadily to around 15% by late 2024. This decrease is partially reversed in early 2025 where ROE climbs back to around 23%, suggesting fluctuating profitability relative to shareholders' equity.

The data reveals notable trends for key financial performance metrics over multiple quarters. Net Profit Margin, Asset Turnover, and Return on Assets (ROA) exhibit varying patterns indicating evolving operational efficiency and profitability.

Net Profit Margin (%)

The net profit margin initially rises from 6.03% in March 2021 to a peak around 6.25% in March 2023, demonstrating an improvement in profitability during this period. Following this peak, the margin declines steadily to a low of approximately 3.65% in December 2024, reflecting reduced profitability. However, a rebound occurs in March 2025 with the margin increasing again to 5.46%. This fluctuation suggests periods of both margin pressure and recovery within the analyzed timeframe.

Asset Turnover (ratio)

Asset turnover shows relative stability with minor fluctuations. Starting around 1.3 in March 2021, it experiences a slight decline to about 1.18 in June 2023, indicating a marginal decrease in the efficiency of asset utilization. Post mid-2023, the ratio recovers and stabilizes in the 1.3–1.34 range through March 2025. This suggests that the company maintains generally consistent effectiveness in generating revenue from its asset base, with only moderate variation.

Return on Assets (ROA) (%)

ROA follows a similar pattern to net profit margin, with improvements from 7.81% in March 2021 peaking at approximately 8.19% in March 2023. Subsequent quarters show a decline reaching a low near 4.78% in September 2024 before recovering to 7.14% by March 2025. This trend points to changes in both asset efficiency and profitability, with a period of diminished returns followed by renewed improvement.

Overall, the data indicates a phase of strengthening profitability and asset efficiency until early 2023, followed by a downturn in financial performance during late 2023 and 2024. The recovery observed in early 2025 may suggest management actions or market factors positively influencing financial results. Despite some volatility, the company’s asset turnover remains comparatively stable, implying operational consistency in asset usage even as profit margins and returns experience variability.

Tax Burden

The tax burden ratio shows a relatively stable pattern from the initial available data in March 2021 through to the end of 2023, fluctuating narrowly between 0.78 and 0.79. From the beginning of 2024, a slight decline is observed down to 0.73 in the mid-year quarters, followed by a recovery reaching 0.81 by March 2025, indicating increasing efficiency or tax benefits toward that period.

Interest Burden

The interest burden ratio remained consistently high, close to 0.9 or above, across the evaluated quarters. A gradual downward trend is observed starting in early 2024, moving from 0.9 to 0.83 by September 2024 before slightly rebounding to 0.87 in the final quarter of the period. This trend indicates somewhat decreasing interest expenses relative to earnings before interest and taxes during 2024, improving the overall interest burden.

EBIT Margin

The Earnings Before Interest and Taxes (EBIT) margin exhibits some volatility over the period. It peaked in mid-2021 near 9.09% but subsequently declined through 2023 and into 2024 reaching a low of 5.86% by December 2024. However, a notable recovery occurs in the last observed quarter, climbing back to 7.76%. This suggests fluctuating operational profitability with recent improvement toward the end of the analyzed timeframe.

Asset Turnover

Asset turnover shows modest fluctuation without a clear directional trend, generally oscillating around 1.3 throughout the period. There is a slight weakening during 2023 coinciding with the dip in profitability metrics, but it recovers in late 2024 and early 2025, maintaining values near the historical average. This stability implies consistent efficiency in generating revenue from assets.

Return on Assets (ROA)

ROA trends mirror those of EBIT margin, with higher returns observed up to 2021 (around 8.2% to 8.1%), followed by a gradual decline during 2023 and 2024 down to approximately 4.78%. The metric rises again in early 2025 to above 7%, suggesting an overall decline in asset profitability during 2023-2024 but a recovery phase toward the end of the analyzed horizon.

Tax Burden

The tax burden ratio shows a generally stable trend from March 2021 through December 2023, oscillating narrowly between 0.76 and 0.79, indicating a consistent proportional tax impact on profits during this period. From the first quarter of 2024, there is a noticeable decline to around 0.73 to 0.75 through the third quarter, followed by an increase to 0.81 by March 2025. This variation suggests changes in tax expenses relative to pre-tax income during 2024 and early 2025.

Interest Burden

The interest burden ratio remains steady around 0.92 to 0.93 from March 2021 to December 2023, implying stable interest expenses relative to earnings before interest and taxes. Beginning in early 2024, a downward trend is observed, decreasing from 0.9 to a low of 0.83 by the third quarter of 2024, before rising slightly to 0.87 at the end of the period. This pattern may reflect a temporary increase in interest expenses or variations in interest rates impacting earnings.

EBIT Margin

The EBIT margin exhibits moderate fluctuations over the analyzed period. From March 2021 to December 2023, it remains relatively steady in the 7.5% to 8.7% range, showing a slight upward tendency through 2022 and 2023. However, from March 2024, the margin falls sharply to a low around 5.86% in the last quarter of 2024, then shows a recovery reaching 7.76% by March 2025. This indicates a period of reduced operational profitability in 2024, followed by a notable improvement in early 2025.

Net Profit Margin

The net profit margin aligns in part with the EBIT margin trends, maintaining a range near 5.9% to 6.25% from March 2021 through December 2023 with relatively minor variations. A significant decrease occurs from the start of 2024, hitting a low near 3.65% in the third quarter of 2024, before recovering to 5.46% by March 2025. This decline and subsequent recovery correspond to the changes in operational profitability and possible shifts in tax and interest burdens, reflecting overall net income sensitivity to these factors during 2024 and early 2025.