UnitedHealth beats 1Q profit forecasts

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — UnitedHealth Group Inc. (UNH) on Tuesday reported first-quarter profit of $1.61 billion.

The Minneapolis-based company said it had net income of $1.67 per share. Earnings, adjusted for amortization costs, came to $1.81 per share.

The results surpassed Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of 13 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $1.72 per share.

The largest U.S. health insurer posted revenue of $44.53 billion in the period, which fell short of Street forecasts. Eight analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $44.72 billion.

UnitedHealth expects full-year earnings in the range of $7.75 to $7.95 per share, with revenue expected to be $182 billion.

UnitedHealth shares have increased roughly 9 percent since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index has climbed 2.5 percent. The stock has increased 5 percent in the last 12 months.

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This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on UNH at http://www.zacks.com/ap/UNH

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Keywords: UnitedHealth Group, Earnings Report, Priority Earnings