Centene (NYSE:CNC) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.31 EPS

Centene (NYSE:CNC) announced its earnings results on Tuesday. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.31, RTT News reports. The business had revenue of $40.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.78 billion. Centene had a return on equity of 13.32% and a net margin of 1.90%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.45 EPS. Centene updated its FY 2025 guidance to 7.250- EPS.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of Centene stock traded down $2.93 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $61.89. 4,979,069 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,113,346. The company has a market capitalization of $31.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.73, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.45. Centene has a 52-week low of $55.03 and a 52-week high of $81.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $61.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $67.14.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Andrew Lynn Asher bought 17,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $58.14 per share, for a total transaction of $1,000,008.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 486,847 shares in the company, valued at $28,305,284.58. This trade represents a 3.66 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Thomas Greco purchased 17,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $59.75 per share, for a total transaction of $1,015,750.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 19,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,153,712.75. This represents a 736.25 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders purchased 45,010 shares of company stock worth $2,660,276. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Stephens decreased their price target on Centene from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their target price on Centene from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on Centene from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com raised Centene from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $75.00 price objective (down previously from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Centene presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.31.

Centene Company 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.