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Compare Stocks › ARE vs UNH

Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. (ARE) vs UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (UNH)

ARE
Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc.
$41.39
VS
UNH
UnitedHealth Group Incorporated
$368.78

Rewards

ARE
  • ★Gross margin of 68.6% indicates strong pricing power — typical of businesses with significant intellectual property or brand strength.
  • ★Dividend yield of 9.86% with a consistent or growing payout over the past 4 years.
  • ★FCF yield of 19.5% is historically attractive — the business generates significant cash relative to its price.
UNH
  • ★Dividend yield of 2.40% with a consistent or growing payout over the past 4 years.

Risks

ARE
  • ⚠PEG ratio of 3.24 indicates the stock is expensive relative to its expected growth — the market may be pricing in more growth than analysts project.
  • ⚠Net debt/EBITDA of 6.7x indicates heavy leverage — it would take over 4 years of EBITDA to pay off net debt.
  • ⚠Altman Z-Score of 0.43 places the company in the distress zone — financial patterns resemble those of companies that experienced bankruptcy.
UNH
  • ⚠ROIC has declined by 7.9 percentage points over the observed period, which may signal competitive erosion.
  • ⚠Gross margin of 18.8% is low, suggesting a competitive or commodity-like market with limited pricing power.
  • ⚠FCF yield of 5.3% suggests reasonable valuation assuming continued moderate growth.

Key Valuation Metrics

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ARE
UNH
Valuation
$1.41B
Free Cash Flow
$17.69B
19.53%
FCF Yield
5.28%
N/A
Trailing P/E
27.85
-47.03
Forward P/E
17.77
Quality & Moat
1.14%
ROIC
15.60%
-7.43%
ROE
11.45%
68.59%
Gross Margin
18.80%
3.24
PEG Ratio
39.79
Balance Sheet Safety
0.67
Debt / Equity
0.74
N/A
Interest Coverage
N/A
6.70
Net Debt / EBITDA
2.18
9.86%
Dividend Yield
2.40%
ARE: 6Ties: 1UNH: 4
AREUNH

Historical Fundamentals

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ARE

Price ÷ Earnings Per Share — how many years of current earnings you're paying for at today's price. Lower P/E may indicate undervaluation.

UNH

Price ÷ Earnings Per Share — how many years of current earnings you're paying for at today's price. Lower P/E may indicate undervaluation.

Price ÷ Earnings Per Share — how many years of current earnings you're paying for at today's price. Lower P/E may indicate undervaluation.

$1 Retained Earnings Test

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ARE
N/A
Net losses over 3 years — test not applicable
Company had negative cumulative retained earnings
Σ Retained
$-3.66B
Δ Market Cap
$-16.53B
Buffett's "$1 Test": For every $1 of earnings retained, has management created at least $1 of market value?
> $1 created per $1 retained = Value Creator · < $1 created = Value Destroyer
UNH
$-7.37
created per $1 retained over 3 years
Market Cap Declined
Σ Retained
$26.63B
Δ Market Cap
$-196.16B
Buffett's "$1 Test": For every $1 of earnings retained, has management created at least $1 of market value?
> $1 created per $1 retained = Value Creator · < $1 created = Value Destroyer

Buffett's "$1 Test": For every $1 of earnings retained, has management created at least $1 of market value?
> $1 created per $1 retained = Value Creator · < $1 created = Value Destroyer

Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) Analysis

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ARE
20.8% Margin of Safety
Price is 20.8% below estimated fair value
Current Price: $41.39
Fair Value: $52.25
Strongly undervalued
Undervalued
Fairly valued
Overvalued
Strongly overvalued
UNH
9.6% Overvalued
Price is 9.6% above estimated fair value
Current Price: $368.78
Fair Value: $336.33
Strongly undervalued
Undervalued
Fairly valued
Overvalued
Strongly overvalued

Reverse DCF — Market-Implied Growth

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ARE

What growth rate is the market pricing in at $41?

+2.8%
Market-Implied FCF Growth Rate

Market roughly matching historical growth — reasonable.

UNH

What growth rate is the market pricing in at $369?

+13.9%
Market-Implied Owner Earnings Growth
Standard FCF implies +8.7%

The market implies +13.9% Owner Earnings growth, above historical trends.

Standard FCF implies a demanding +8.7%, reflecting heavy growth investment.

Economic Moat Score

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ARE
50/100
Narrow Moat
70+ Wide · 40-69 Narrow · <40 None

Narrow moat with margin stability as the key competitive advantage. Improving reinvestment efficiency would strengthen the moat.

Composite score measuring competitive advantage durability across four dimensions: returns above cost of capital, pricing power stability, revenue predictability, and capital efficiency. Based on 4 years of fundamental data.
UNH
64/100
Narrow Moat
70+ Wide · 40-69 Narrow · <40 None

Narrow moat with revenue predictability as the key competitive advantage. Improving margin stability would strengthen the moat.

Composite score measuring competitive advantage durability across four dimensions: returns above cost of capital, pricing power stability, revenue predictability, and capital efficiency. Based on 4 years of fundamental data.

Forensic Accounting

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ARE
-2.82
Unlikely Manipulator
Above -1.78 = likely manipulator · -2.22 to -1.78 = grey zone

M-Score Trend

Beneish's 8-variable model estimates the probability of earnings manipulation. An M-Score above -1.78 signals elevated risk — companies in this range have historically been 3-5× more likely to be manipulating earnings. Scores between -2.22 and -1.78 fall in a grey zone warranting further investigation.
UNH
-2.45
Unlikely Manipulator
Above -1.78 = likely manipulator · -2.22 to -1.78 = grey zone

M-Score Trend

Beneish's 8-variable model estimates the probability of earnings manipulation. An M-Score above -1.78 signals elevated risk — companies in this range have historically been 3-5× more likely to be manipulating earnings. Scores between -2.22 and -1.78 fall in a grey zone warranting further investigation.

Beneish's 8-variable model estimates the probability of earnings manipulation. An M-Score above -1.78 signals elevated risk — companies in this range have historically been 3-5× more likely to be manipulating earnings. Scores between -2.22 and -1.78 fall in a grey zone warranting further investigation.

Ownership Breakdown

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ARE
Insiders 1.4%Institutions 90.6%Retail & Other 8.0%
No. of Institutional Holders862
High insider ownership aligns management incentives with shareholders — a key signal in Buffett-style analysis. Institutional concentration can indicate smart-money conviction but also crowding risk.
UNH
Insiders 0.8%Institutions 84.7%Retail & Other 14.5%
No. of Institutional Holders4,077
High insider ownership aligns management incentives with shareholders — a key signal in Buffett-style analysis. Institutional concentration can indicate smart-money conviction but also crowding risk.

High insider ownership aligns management incentives with shareholders. Institutional concentration can indicate smart-money conviction but also crowding risk.

Insider Buying Activity

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ARE
1
Buys (3M)
2
Buys (12M)
Total value (12M): $1.49M
MARCUS JOEL S
Officer and Director
$1.35M
@ $53.92 · 2026-02-12
MCGRATH SHEILA K.
Director
$141,360
@ $45.60 · 2025-12-10
Open market purchases · includes direct & indirect ownership · excludes option exercises
UNH
0
Buys (3M)
5
Buys (12M)
Total value (12M): $31.61M
HEMSLEY STEPHEN J
Chief Executive Officer
$25.02M
@ $288.57 · 2025-05-16
REX JOHN F
President
$5.00M
@ $291.12 · 2025-05-16
GIL KRISTEN
Director
$1.00M
@ $271.17 · 2025-05-15
NOSEWORTHY JOHN H
Director
$93,647
@ $312.16 · 2025-05-14
FLYNN TIMOTHY PATRICK
Director
$491,786
@ $320.80 · 2025-05-14
FLYNN TIMOTHY PATRICK
Director
$511,575
@ $511.57 · 2025-01-17
Open market purchases · includes direct & indirect ownership · excludes option exercises

Open market purchases · includes direct & indirect ownership · excludes option exercises.

Insider Selling Activity

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ARE
2
Sells (3M)
3
Sells (12M)
Total value (12M): $438,506
KUHN HALLIE E.
Officer
$25,835
@ $48.20 · 2026-04-17
GOSSETT BRET E.
Officer
$251,792
@ $53.55 · 2026-02-27
ALSBROOK MADELEINE THORP
Officer
$160,879
@ $46.15 · 2025-12-16
ALSBROOK MADELEINE THORP
Officer
$446,202
@ $102.34 · 2024-12-16
MOGLIA PETER M
Chief Executive Officer
$1.02M
@ $102.26 · 2024-12-16
GAVINET ANDRES
Officer
$2.09M
@ $104.29 · 2024-12-11
RYAN DANIEL J
Officer
$1.03M
@ $103.31 · 2024-12-11
KASS HUNTER
President
$530,650
@ $106.13 · 2024-12-09
CAIN JAMES P
Director
$42,456
@ $124.87 · 2024-09-16
CIRUZZI VINCENT R. JR
Officer
$855,756
@ $123.29 · 2024-09-13
Direct ownership only · excludes indirect, option exercises, planned (10b5-1) sales & derivatives
UNH
1
Sells (3M)
2
Sells (12M)
Total value (12M): $463,645
CONWAY PATRICK HUGH M.D.
Officer
$284,000
@ $355.00 · 2026-04-23
CONWAY PATRICK HUGH M.D.
Chief Executive Officer
$179,645
@ $305.00 · 2025-06-10
Direct ownership only · excludes indirect, option exercises, planned (10b5-1) sales & derivatives

Direct ownership only · excludes indirect, option exercises, planned (10b5-1) sales & derivatives.

🎭 Mr. Market's Mood

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ARE
FearGreed
😨Fear(29/100)

"Market is pessimistic — investigate whether fears are temporary or structural"

Composite sentiment score based on 6 market signals. Inspired by Buffett's "Mr. Market" allegory — fear = potential opportunity, greed = potential risk. Must be used alongside fundamental analysis, not in isolation.
UNH
FearGreed
😏Greed(65/100)

"Market is optimistic — be cautious and ensure you have a margin of safety"

Composite sentiment score based on 6 market signals. Inspired by Buffett's "Mr. Market" allegory — fear = potential opportunity, greed = potential risk. Must be used alongside fundamental analysis, not in isolation.

Composite sentiment score based on market signals. Inspired by Buffett’s "Mr. Market" allegory — fear = potential opportunity, greed = potential risk. Must be used alongside fundamental analysis, not in isolation.

⚖️ Buffett Signal

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ARE
⚪Awaiting DCF Data

The Buffett Signal cross-references market sentiment with DCF valuation. Configure the DCF Analysis above to generate a signal.

DCF Margin of Safety: N/AMr. Market's Mood: Fear (29)
UNH
⚪Awaiting DCF Data

The Buffett Signal cross-references market sentiment with DCF valuation. Configure the DCF Analysis above to generate a signal.

DCF Margin of Safety: N/AMr. Market's Mood: Greed (65)
View ARE Full AnalysisView UNH Full Analysis
ARE vs UNH: Which Is the Better Buy? | SafetyMargin.io