StockNews.com Downgrades Centene (NYSE:CNC) to Buy

StockNews.com lowered shares of Centene (NYSE:CNC) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Monday morning.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on CNC. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Centene from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on shares of Centene from $110.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 29th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $83.00 to $69.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Centene in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Centene from $93.00 to $91.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.17.

Centene Trading Down 4.0 %

CNC opened at $61.66 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $72.55 and its 200-day moving average is $72.24. The company has a market cap of $32.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.26, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.48. Centene has a 1-year low of $59.77 and a 1-year high of $81.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its earnings results 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 return on equity of 14.45% and a net margin of 1.79%. The company had revenue of $39.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.83 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.10 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Centene will post 6.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Centene

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CNC. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Centene by 18.7% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 624,944 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,046,000 after buying an additional 98,298 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP increased its stake in Centene by 435.0% in the first quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 20,052 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,574,000 after purchasing an additional 16,304 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co raised its holdings in shares of Centene by 35.8% during the second quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 28,009 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,857,000 after purchasing an additional 7,385 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Centene by 189.6% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 24,162 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,895,000 after purchasing an additional 15,819 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Comerica Bank increased its position in Centene by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 118,597 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,307,000 after buying an additional 8,103 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

About Centene

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.