Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Receives $79.92 Consensus PT from Analysts

Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the fifteen research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $79.92.

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Centene from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on Centene from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Centene from $89.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Argus lowered shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut Centene from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $68.00 to $52.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 10th.

Institutional Trading of Centene

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fairtree Asset Management Pty Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Centene during the 4th quarter worth approximately $621,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Centene by 122.3% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 91,015 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,514,000 after buying an additional 50,066 shares during the period. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC grew its position in shares of Centene by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 124,601 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,548,000 after buying an additional 2,690 shares in the last quarter. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ purchased a new position in Centene in the fourth quarter worth approximately $325,000. Finally, Alpha Wealth Funds LLC acquired a new position in Centene during the 4th quarter worth approximately $272,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of CNC opened at $59.96 on Monday. Centene has a 1-year low of $55.03 and a 1-year high of $80.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.61, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a 50-day moving average of $59.94 and a 200 day moving average of $62.79. 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 (NYSE:CNC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.31. The business 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.45 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Centene will post 6.86 EPS for the current 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.