Centene’s (CNC) “Overweight” Rating Reiterated at Cantor Fitzgerald

Cantor Fitzgerald reissued their overweight rating on shares of Centene (NYSE:CNC) in a report published on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. Cantor Fitzgerald currently has a $90.00 price target on the stock.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on CNC. TD Cowen increased their target price on Centene from $80.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird began coverage on shares of Centene in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They set a neutral rating and a $83.00 target price for the company. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Centene from a buy rating to a hold rating and decreased their price target for the company from $83.00 to $69.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Barclays cut their price objective on Centene from $98.00 to $97.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an equal weight rating and issued a $78.00 price target on shares of Centene in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $85.75.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CNC opened at $70.98 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.11, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.48. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $73.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $73.64. Centene has a 12 month low of $63.45 and a 12 month high of $81.42.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 26th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.02). Centene had a net margin of 1.79% and a return on equity of 14.45%. The firm had revenue of $39.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.83 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.10 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Centene will post 6.83 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Centene

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Centene during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,325,441,000. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Centene in the first quarter valued at $914,080,000. Harris Associates L P lifted its stake in shares of Centene by 172.8% in the 4th quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 10,863,367 shares of the company’s stock valued at $806,170,000 after purchasing an additional 6,881,450 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of Centene by 60.2% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,216,486 shares of the company’s stock worth $409,390,000 after purchasing an additional 1,959,460 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Centene by 22.9% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,461,517 shares of the company’s stock valued at $295,799,000 after buying an additional 832,318 shares during the period. 93.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Centene Company Profile

Centene Corporation operates as a healthcare enterprise that provides programs and services to under-insured and uninsured families, commercial organizations, and military families in the United States. The company operates through Medicaid, Medicare, Commercial, and Other segments. The Medicaid segment offers health plan coverage, including medicaid expansion, aged, blind, disabled, children’s health insurance program, foster care, medicare-medicaid plans, long-term services and support.