Centene (NYSE:CNC) Lowered to “Buy” at StockNews.com

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

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Centene from $80.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Centene from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Stephens restated an equal weight rating and set a $78.00 price target on shares of Centene in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Centene from a buy rating to a hold rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $83.00 to $69.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Centene from $92.00 to $89.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Centene has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $85.58.

Centene Stock Down 1.0 %

CNC opened at $71.62 on Monday. Centene has a 12 month low of $63.45 and a 12 month high of $81.42. The company has a 50 day moving average of $75.55 and a 200 day moving average of $73.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The company has a market cap of $38.22 billion, a PE ratio of 14.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.48.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Centene

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Stephens Inc. AR boosted its position in shares of Centene by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 11,518 shares of the company’s stock valued at $855,000 after buying an additional 755 shares during the last quarter. Ossiam increased its holdings in Centene by 14.1% in the 4th quarter. Ossiam now owns 12,524 shares of the company’s stock valued at $929,000 after acquiring an additional 1,543 shares during the last quarter. Connectus Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Centene by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Connectus Wealth LLC now owns 20,194 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,499,000 after buying an additional 594 shares in the last quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co raised its holdings in shares of Centene by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 47,274 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,508,000 after acquiring an additional 1,288 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Unigestion Holding SA bought a new position in Centene during the fourth quarter valued at $1,962,000. 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.