Based on the aggregated intelligence of 170,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, managed care provider UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) has earned a respected four-star ranking.

With that in mind, let's take a closer look at UnitedHealth's business and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.

UnitedHealth facts

Headquarters (founded)

Minnetonka, Minn. (1974)

Market Cap

$39.0 billion

Industry

Managed health care

Trailing-12-Month Revenue

$89.9 billion

Management

CEO Stephen Hemsley (since 2006)
CFO George Mikan (since 2006)

Return on Equity (average, past 3 years)

18.1%

Cash/Debt

$11.0 billion / $10.7 billion

Dividend Yield

1.4%

Competitors

WellPoint (NYSE: WLP)
Aetna (NYSE: AET)
CIGNA (NYSE: CI)
Humana (NYSE: HUM)

Sources: Capital IQ (a division of Standard & Poor's) and Motley Fool CAPS.

On CAPS, 95% of the 3,486 members who have rated UnitedHealth believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bulls include All-Star latimerburned, who is ranked in the top 10% of our community, and dumberthanafool.

A few months ago, latimerburned highlighted UnitedHealth's cheapish valuation, which still remains valid today: 

Trading at a sub 10 PE. Overhang of Obamacare has been lifted. As soon as people start getting jobs again this one should start trading much higher.

UnitedHealth's enviable competitive position and favorable demographic trends fuel its consistently high CAPS rating. And even as health-care-reform worries steadily fade away, the shares are currently available at a cheapish price-to-earnings ratio of 9.3. But surprisingly enough, that actually represents a premium to rival health-care insurers WellPoint, Aetna, CIGNA, and Humana. Of course, with massive scale advantages that consistently drive high returns on equity, UnitedHealth still seems like a relatively healthy bet.  

CAPS member dumberthanafool elaborates:

I continue to be heavily invested in healthcare, and will get more so. I think that as our U.S. population ages (and, internationally, a lot of world population ages), healthcare costs will, rightly or wrongly, continue to increase. ...

In my view, virtually all aspects of the health industry are likely to be some of the best performers over the next twenty years. Demographics strongly favor it. Demographics are a powerful force, which is often ignored by investors. Nor will concerns about energy use, or the environment, etc., cause this industry any anxiety.

Individual Competitive Advantage in Industry: Scale, market leader, cost leader, regulated industry (yes, an advantage here I think; makes scale more important).

What do you think about UnitedHealth, or any other stock for that matter? If you want to retire rich, you need to put together the best portfolio you can. Owning exceptional stocks is a surefire way to secure your financial future, and on Motley Fool CAPS, thousands of investors are working every day to find them. CAPS is 100% free, so get started!