These healthcare stocks offer value and rapid profit growth

By Philip van Doorn

An increase in the expected Medicare Advantage payment rates for 2027 could be a catalyst for the industry

Shares of CVS Health were up 4.5% on April 7, after a pleasant surprise for the industry from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

Updated based on stock prices at 9:45 a.m. Eastern time.

The healthcare sector was seeing large stock-price gains early Tuesday, with managed-care providers dominating.

These five healthcare stocks were up after the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' announcement of a large increase in the expected Medicare Advantage reimbursement rate for 2027. For Centene (CNC), a premarket gain of 3.5% faded to an early gain of 0.9% after the market open.

   Company                April 7 price change  2026 price change  2025 price change 
   UnitedHealth Group                     8.0%              -8.0%             -34.7% 
   Humana                                 6.4%             -24.1%               1.0% 
   CVS Health                             4.5%              -3.5%              76.8% 
   Elevance Health                        3.0%             -11.1%              -5.0% 
   Centene                                0.9%             -13.2%             -32.1% 
                                                                        Source: LSEG 

All of these companies are Medicare Advantage providers, including CVS Health (CVS), which, in addition to its pharmacies, owns Aetna, a managed-care provider, and Caremark, a pharmacy-benefits manager.

Investors' strong reaction followed the announcement by CMS of a large increase in the expected Medicare Advantage reimbursement rate for 2027.

Before that news, the healthcare sector of the S&P 500 had been underperforming the full index for years. These are price changes, weighted by component companies' market capitalization, excluding dividends:

   Sector or index              2026 price change through April 6  2025 price change  2024 price change  2023 price change 
   S&P 500 Healthcare sector                                -5.5%              12.5%               0.9%               0.3% 
   S&P 500                                                  -3.4%              16.4%              23.3%              24.2% 
                                                                                                              Source: LSEG 

Another fascinating development for investors interested in healthcare is how this industry has dominated the U.S. economy. During the first three months of 2026, the U.S. economy has added 205,000 nonfarm full-time-equivalent jobs, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates. Of that total, there were 169,000 jobs in the "healthcare and social assistance" category.

Screening stocks of healthcare providers

The iShares U.S. Healthcare Providers ETF IHF was up 2.5% in morning trading. This exchange-traded fund holds 60 stocks as it tracks the Dow Jones U.S. Select Healthcare Providers Index. The stocks in the underlying index are weighted by market capitalization, with limits of 22.5% for any one company. In addition, stocks making up 4.5% or more of the index are limited to a total of 45% of the index.

IHF trades at a forward price/earnings ratio of 13.75, as calculated by LSEG based on weightings within the portfolio. This is far below the forward P/E of 19.85 for the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY, which tracks the S&P 500.

A stock's forward P/E is its price divided by the consensus earnings estimate among analysts working for brokerage or research firms polled by LSEG.

After years of disappointing earnings performance due to difficulties earning profits from Medicare Advantage and from various cost pressures, the five companies listed above are expected by analysts to increase profits rapidly over the next three years.

Leaving the five companies in the same order, here are projected compound annual growth rates for earnings per share from 2025 through 2028, with the actual EPS for 2025 and the estimates for the following three years to the right.

   Company                Estimated EPS CAGR through 2028  2025 EPS  Est. 2026 EPS  Est. 2027 EPS  Est. 2028 EPS 
   UnitedHealth Group                               21.6%    $13.19         $17.85         $19.85         $23.72 
   Humana                                           37.4%     $9.82          $9.24         $15.02         $25.49 
   CVS Health                                       89.5%     $1.38          $7.17          $8.18          $9.39 
   Elevance Health                                  10.9%    $25.12         $25.91         $29.32         $34.31 
   Centene                                            N/A   -$13.62          $2.99          $3.97          $5.69 
                                                                                                    Source: LSEG 

There is no EPS CAGR for Centene (CNC) because the company booked a large noncash goodwill charge on acquired assets in the third quarter, resulting in a net loss of $13.62 a share for the year.

The projected EPS CAGR above compares with weighted three-year EPS CAGR estimates of 10% for the S&P 500 healthcare sector and 15% for the full S&P 500, according to LSEG's data.

Going back to the full list of 60 stocks held by the iShares U.S. Healthcare Providers ETF, we can narrow down the group to 34 that are covered by at least five analysts polled by LSEG and for which consensus EPS estimates are available through 2028.

Among those 34 stocks, 22 have projected EPS CAGR through 2028 higher than the 15% projected for the S&P 500.

Here are the 10 remaining stocks trading at the lowest forward P/E valuations based on Tuesday's prices at 9:45 a.m. Eastern time:

   Company                Forward P/E  Estimated EPS CAGR through 2028 
   Cigna                          8.7                            18.8% 
   CVS Health                    10.0                            89.5% 
   DaVita                        10.2                            23.4% 
   Progyny                       13.9                            38.8% 
   Waystar Holding               13.9                            51.8% 
   Doximity                      13.9                            16.8% 
   Option Care Health            14.3                            22.6% 
   PACS Group                    14.8                            27.1% 
   Labcorp Holdings              15.0                            26.1% 
   UnitedHealth Group            16.2                            21.6% 
                                                          Source: LSEG 

Among the five premarket movers listed above, CVS and UnitedHealth Group (UNH) made this last list. Humana's (HUM) intraday forward P/E was 17.6 Tuesday morning, while Elevance (ELV) had a forward P/E of 11.6 and Centene's forward P/E was 10.7.

Any stock screen is only a snapshot, meant to help you with your own research, through which you can form your own opinion about a potential investment. One way to further your research is to click on the tickers for more information.

Read: Tomi Kilgore's guide to the information available on the MarketWatch quote page

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-Philip van Doorn

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04-07-26 1029ET