English Capital Management LLC Raises Holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

English Capital Management LLC increased its position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 23.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 64,771 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,126 shares during the quarter. Centene comprises 3.0% of English Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. English Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $3,924,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in shares of Centene by 9.2% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 74,998 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,645,000 after acquiring an additional 6,337 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in Centene by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 73,226 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,512,000 after buying an additional 2,656 shares in the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI bought a new stake in shares of Centene during the third quarter valued at about $227,000. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Centene by 212.8% in the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 15,316 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,153,000 after buying an additional 10,420 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Trust N.A. grew its stake in Centene by 1.1% during the third quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 73,188 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,510,000 after acquiring an additional 829 shares in the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $75.00 price target (down from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Centene from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $68.00 to $52.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Stephens dropped their target price on shares of Centene from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Centene presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $79.92.

Centene Price Performance

CNC opened at $58.88 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.10. Centene Co. has a 1 year low of $55.03 and a 1 year high of $80.59. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $60.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $63.15. The firm has a market cap of $29.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.44, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.40.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $40.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.78 billion. Centene had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.45 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Centene Co. will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Centene 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.