MCK vs MDLN vs UNH Stock Comparison

Mckesson, Medline and Unitedhealth Prices as of Nov 4, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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MCK Mckesson Corp
$1,068.31 +16.6% 1M +26.9% 1Y
Market cap
$123.34B
P/E
26.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$418.79B
Div. yield
0.32%
Drug Distribution Healthcare
7 wins
MDLN Medline Inc.
$40.35 +12.7% 1M
Market cap
$53.10B
P/E
61.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$30.68B
Div. yield
–
Medical Supplies Healthcare
UNH Unitedhealth Group Inc
$409.28 +8.1% 1M +23.7% 1Y
Market cap
$366.71B
P/E
23.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$449.66B
Div. yield
2.21%
Managed Care Healthcare
5 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Mckesson leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (Mckesson 7, Unitedhealth 5). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionMCKMDLNUNHLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $123.34B $53.10B $366.71B UNH
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 26.4x 61.3x 23.1x UNH
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 22.7x 28.0x 19.2x UNH
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +8.2% — +3.3% MCK
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 1.1% 1.9% 3.5% UNH
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 98.7% 4.3% 11.3% MCK
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.4x 3.2x 1.6x MCK
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.32% — 2.21% UNH
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +26.9% — +23.7% MCK
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +37.0%/yr — -2.1%/yr MCK
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 31.3% 47.9% 35.8% MCK
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 61/100 52/100 57/100 MCK

Percentile Scorecard

MCKMDLNUNH

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisMCKMDLNUNH
Valuation 60 #11 of 26 79 #48 of 229 52 #13 of 26
Growth 63 #10 of 25 – 13 #22 of 25
Profitability 67 #9 of 25 72 #59 of 209 88 #4 of 25
Financial Health 48 #14 of 26 43 #137 of 240 44 #15 of 26
Shareholder Returns 69 #6 of 17 15 #125 of 146 88 #3 of 17
Overall 61 52 57
  • MCK ranked among 27 companies in Healthcare Payers and Distributors
  • MDLN ranked among 248 companies in Medical Devices and Diagnostics
  • UNH ranked among 27 companies in Healthcare Payers and Distributors

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodMCKMDLNUNHSPY
1 month +16.6%+12.7%+8.1% -1.0%
3 months +21.7%+10.0%-0.8% -0.4%
6 months +43.7%-4.0%+11.4% +4.5%
Year to date +30.2%-3.9%+24.0% +12.4%
1 year +26.9%—+23.7% +13.6%
3 years +136.0%—-22.9% +76.4%
3 years, per year +33.2%—-8.3% +20.8%
5 years +381.9%—-10.2% +63.7%
5 years, per year +37.0%—-2.1% +10.4%
10 years +717.0%—+197.2% +267.7%
10 years, per year +23.4%—+11.5% +13.9%

Risk

MeasureMCKMDLNUNHSPY
Volatility, 1Y 31.3%47.9%35.8% 12.8%
Downside volatility, 1Y 27.4%48.3%37.8% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y -0.190.750.31 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.86—0.66 1.06
Max drawdown, 5Y -27.2%-36.7%-62.0% -25.4%
From 52-week high 0.0%-19.3%-6.2% -1.6%
52-week high $1,068.31$49.99$436.35 $779.14
52-week low $725.17$31.64$259.02 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleMCKMDLNUNH
P/E now vs peer median 26.4xmedian 25.7x 61.3xmedian 28.5x 23.1xmedian 25.7x
P/S now vs peer median 0.3xmedian 0.3x 1.7xmedian 2.9x 0.8xmedian 0.3x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 16.9xmedian 13.9x 22.0xmedian 18.5x 14.6xmedian 13.9x
P/FCF now vs peer median 17.4xmedian 16.6x 28.0xmedian 26.7x 16.1xmedian 16.6x
P/B now vs peer median -31.2xmedian 2.6x 2.7xmedian 2.3x 3.5xmedian 2.6x
PEG now vs peer median 1.66median 1.56 —median 0.93 -2.64median 1.56

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsMCKMDLNUNH
Revenue $418.79B $30.68B $449.66B
Gross profit $15.37B $7.90B $141.79B
Operating income $6.69B $1.74B $23.92B
Net income $5.43B $889.00M $16.67B
Free cash flow $7.11B $1.90B $22.83B
EPS (diluted) $40.27 $0.44 $17.61
Cash & equivalents $6.53B $2.32B $25.85B
Total debt $9.21B $12.58B $74.33B
Shares (diluted) 116.70M 1.32B 902.00M
Enterprise value $107.28B $50.23B $253.38B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricMCKMDLNUNH
P/E 26.4x 61.3x 23.1x
P/FCF 17.4x 28.0x 16.1x
P/Operating cash flow 16.4x 22.3x 14.0x
P/S 0.3x 1.7x 0.8x
P/B -31.2x 2.7x 3.5x
P/Tangible book -15.6x 8.8x 4.4x
EV/EBITDA 16.9x 22.0x 14.6x
EV/EBIT 18.8x 35.6x 17.2x
EV/Revenue 0.3x 2.0x 0.9x
EV/FCF 17.7x 32.8x 18.1x
EV/Operating cash flow 16.8x 26.1x 15.7x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.66 – -2.64

Growth

14 metrics
MetricMCKMDLNUNH
Revenue growth (1Y) 8.2% – 3.3%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 12.9% – 7.7%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 11.8% – 4.1%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 7.6% – 3.8%
Operating income growth (1Y) 27.3% – -9.2%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 16.1% – -8.8%
Net income growth (1Y) 28.5% – -9.3%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 14.2% – -9.3%
EPS growth (1Y) 24.2% – -9.1%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 15.9% – -8.7%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 9.3% – 25.0%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 15.2% – -4.1%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 11.8% – 31.4%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 16.3% – -4.8%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricMCKMDLNUNH
Gross margin 3.7% 25.7% 31.5%
EBITDA margin 1.8% 9.2% 6.3%
Operating margin 1.6% 5.7% 5.3%
Pretax margin 1.6% 3.6% 4.4%
Net margin 1.1% 1.9% 3.5%
FCF margin 1.7% 6.2% 5.1%
Operating cash flow margin 1.8% 7.8% 5.8%
Return on equity – 4.6% 16.0%
Return on assets 6.0% 2.2% 5.4%
Return on invested capital 98.7% 4.3% 11.3%
Return on capital employed 42.0% 4.8% 12.2%
Asset turnover 4.6x 0.8x 1.4x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.4x 2.7x 1.6x
Stock comp / revenue – 0.4% 0.2%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricMCKMDLNUNH
Debt / assets 10.0% 31.3% 23.8%
Debt / equity -2.3x 0.6x 0.7x
Net debt / EBITDA 0.4x 3.2x 1.6x
Debt / FCF 1.3x 6.6x 3.3x
Liabilities / assets 104.3% 51.7% 66.7%
Equity / assets -4.3% 48.3% 33.3%
Interest coverage 21.9x – 6.2x
Current ratio 0.9x 4.0x 0.7x
Quick ratio 0.5x 2.4x 0.7x
Cash ratio 0.1x 1.2x 0.2x
Altman Z-score 5.81 2.74 3.09

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricMCKMDLNUNH
Dividend yield 0.3% – 2.2%
Net buyback yield 5.4% -13.3% 1.2%
Shareholder yield 5.7% -13.3% 3.4%
Payout ratio (earnings) 7.4% – 49.0%
Payout ratio (FCF) 5.6% – 35.8%
Dividend growth (1Y) 10.5% – 4.2%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 9.8% – 7.6%

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusMCKMDLNUNH
Forward P/E 22.7xFY2026 28.0xFY2026 19.2xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $47.15FY2026 $1.44FY2026 $21.36FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +20.6%FY2026 +0.7%FY2026 +30.6%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +11.0% +13.9% +12.0%
Revenue, next fiscal year $444.47BFY2026 $32.52BFY2026 $421.27BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +10.2%FY2026 +14.4%FY2026 -5.9%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +1.5% +8.0% +15.1%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersMCKMDLNUNH
Held by institutions 89.1% 57.1% 86.6%
Institutions holding 2,014 409 3,366
Change in shares held, QoQ -0.7% +17.9% +5.0%
Institutions buying 883 322 1,826
Institutions selling 793 69 1,249
Buyers to sellers 1.11 4.67 1.46

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

MCKMDLNUNH
MCK 1.00 0.25 0.03
MDLN 0.25 1.00 -0.03
UNH 0.03 -0.03 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, MCK, MDLN and UNH?

Unitedhealth (UNH) is the largest by market capitalisation: Mckesson (MCK) $123.34B, Medline (MDLN) $53.10B, Unitedhealth (UNH) $366.71B.

Which stock is cheaper, MCK, MDLN and UNH?

Unitedhealth (UNH) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Mckesson (MCK) 26.4x, Medline (MDLN) 61.3x, Unitedhealth (UNH) 23.1x). On next year's consensus earnings, Unitedhealth (UNH) is cheapest (Mckesson (MCK) 22.7x, Medline (MDLN) 28.0x, Unitedhealth (UNH) 19.2x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Mckesson (MCK) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Mckesson (MCK) +8.2%, Unitedhealth (UNH) +3.3%.

Which company is more profitable?

Unitedhealth (UNH) has the highest net margin (Mckesson (MCK) 1.1%, Medline (MDLN) 1.9%, Unitedhealth (UNH) 3.5%). On return on invested capital, Mckesson (MCK) leads (Mckesson (MCK) 98.7%, Medline (MDLN) 4.3%, Unitedhealth (UNH) 11.3%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Mckesson (MCK) returned the most: Mckesson (MCK) +26.9%, Unitedhealth (UNH) +23.7%. Over five years, Mckesson (MCK) compounded fastest (Mckesson (MCK) +37.0%/yr, Unitedhealth (UNH) -2.1%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Unitedhealth (UNH) has the highest dividend yield: Mckesson (MCK) 0.32%, Unitedhealth (UNH) 2.21%. Medline (MDLN) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Mckesson (MCK) has been the steadiest (Mckesson (MCK) 31.3%, Medline (MDLN) 47.9%, Unitedhealth (UNH) 35.8%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, MCK, MDLN and UNH?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Mckesson (MCK) leads on 7. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.