Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the thirteen ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $85.58.

CNC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Centene in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Centene from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $78.00 price target on shares of Centene in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Barclays lowered their price target on Centene from $98.00 to $97.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on Centene from $80.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 98,298 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP grew its stake in shares of Centene by 435.0% during the 1st quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 20,052 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,574,000 after acquiring an additional 16,304 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co grew its stake in shares of Centene by 35.8% during the 2nd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 28,009 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,857,000 after acquiring an additional 7,385 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 15,819 shares during the period. Finally, Comerica Bank boosted its stake in Centene by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 118,597 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,307,000 after purchasing an additional 8,103 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CNC opened at $61.60 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Centene has a twelve month low of $59.77 and a twelve month high of $81.42. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $73.50 and its 200-day moving average is $72.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.25, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.48.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The company reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $39.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.83 billion. Centene had a net margin of 1.79% and a return on equity of 14.45%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.10 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Centene will post 6.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.