Analysts Set Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) Target Price at $68.58

Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the twenty research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have given a hold recommendation, eight have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $69.15.

A number of analysts recently weighed in on CNC shares. Raymond James Financial set a $75.00 price target on shares of Centene in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Centene from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Zacks Research raised Centene from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Centene from $39.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Centene from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $53.00 to $80.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 20th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. MidFirst Bank acquired a new stake in Centene in the second quarter valued at $32,000. DV Equities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Centene in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Centene by 564.6% in the 2nd quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 658 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 559 shares in the last quarter. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. bought a new position in shares of Centene during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Centene by 118.4% in the fourth quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 749 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 406 shares in the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Centene Trading Up 3.5%

Shares of CNC opened at $67.14 on Thursday. Centene has a twelve month low of $26.23 and a twelve month high of $69.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.17 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $64.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $51.40.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The company reported $2.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $1.42. Centene had a positive return on equity of 12.12% and a negative net margin of 2.51%.The firm had revenue of $53.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $47.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.16) earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Centene has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.800- EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Centene will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

About Centene

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.