Centene (NYSE:CNC) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Centene (NYSE:CNC) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on CNC. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Centene from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Mizuho set a $47.00 price target on Centene in a research note on Friday, January 9th. UBS Group set a $42.00 price objective on Centene and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $43.00 target price on Centene and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Centene in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Centene currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $40.81.

Centene Stock Performance

NYSE:CNC opened at $38.04 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $36.07. Centene has a 1-year low of $25.08 and a 1-year high of $66.03. The stock has a market cap of $18.70 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.79, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.48.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 6th. The company reported ($1.19) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.22) by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $49.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $48.41 billion. Centene had a positive return on equity of 4.25% and a negative net margin of 3.43%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 21.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.80 EPS. Centene has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.000-3.000 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Centene will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Centene

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CNC. Addison Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Centene by 455.6% during the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 739 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 606 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Centene by 118.4% during the 4th quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 749 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 406 shares during the period. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Centene in the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. GoalVest Advisory LLC bought a new position in Centene during the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in Centene in the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Company Profile

Centene Corporation (NYSE: CNC) is a diversified, multi-national healthcare enterprise that specializes in providing services to government-sponsored and national health programs. The company primarily acts as a managed care organization, delivering healthcare coverage and administering benefits for Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), Medicare Advantage, and individual marketplace plans. Centene also contracts with federal and state agencies to manage specialty care programs and community-based services for vulnerable populations.

Centene’s offerings extend beyond traditional insurance to include a range of specialty and support services.