Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Short Interest Up 18.7% in January

Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 6,670,000 shares, a growth of 18.7% from the January 15th total of 5,620,000 shares. Currently, 1.3% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 5,450,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.2 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group upgraded shares of Centene from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $79.00 to $80.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Stephens lowered their target price on shares of Centene from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Centene from $66.00 to $71.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $75.00 price objective (down from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $79.92.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CNC traded up $0.06 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $56.87. 3,447,086 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,199,806. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The company’s 50-day moving average is $61.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $66.54. The company has a market capitalization of $28.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.11, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.45. Centene has a 1 year low of $55.03 and a 1 year high of $81.42.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $40.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.78 billion. Centene had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 2.03%. Centene’s revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.45 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Centene will post 6.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Centene news, Director Thomas Greco bought 17,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $59.75 per share, for a total transaction of $1,015,750.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 19,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,153,712.75. This trade represents a 736.25 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Theodore R. Samuels II bought 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $58.86 per share, with a total value of $294,300.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 23,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,353,780. The trade was a 27.78 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have purchased 23,693 shares of company stock valued at $1,409,954. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new position in Centene in the 4th quarter worth about $70,963,000. Voleon Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Centene in the 4th quarter worth about $3,656,000. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Centene in the 4th quarter worth about $6,173,000. 8 Knots Management LLC increased its stake in Centene by 18.6% during the 4th quarter. 8 Knots Management LLC now owns 2,000,256 shares of the company’s stock worth $121,176,000 after buying an additional 313,447 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Centene by 42.8% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 7,742,698 shares of the company’s stock worth $469,053,000 after buying an additional 2,319,952 shares in the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.