UnitedHealth Shares Rally Following Upgrade To Buy

In a report published Monday, Jefferies analysts upgraded the rating on

from Hold to Buy, while raising the price target from $106 to $141. The company is well positioned to "capture business in the fastest growing segments," the analysts explained. The analysts are now more confident of the publicly traded companies being able to generate EPS growth of at least 10 percent, which supports a higher multiple for the group. The MCOs are likely to gain should market share at the cost of smaller companies, resulting in above average industry growth. Taking into account capital deployment, "the diversified large caps can grow EPS by the low-double digits," the report mentioned. The analysts expect the industry to generate a revenue CAGR of 8.6 percent during 2015-2019. These results would be driven by higher enrollment, price increases and a mix shift to higher PMPM products. In the report Jefferies noted, "UNH's outlook continues to improve and we don't see any material hurdles slowing down fundamental momentum. MA headwinds are turning to tailwinds, its Public Exchange business is rapidly growing, and the recent CTRX deal complements robust Optum earnings growth." The stock deserves to trade at a premium to the market based on "our sum-of-the-parts analysis," the analysts added.