StockNews.com Lowers Centene (NYSE:CNC) to Buy

StockNews.com lowered shares of Centene (NYSE:CNC) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Saturday morning.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on CNC. Barclays increased their price target on Centene from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Oppenheimer reiterated an outperform rating and issued a $110.00 target price on shares of Centene in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an overweight rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Centene in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Stephens restated an equal weight rating and set a $83.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Centene from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Centene presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $84.93.

Centene Price Performance

Centene stock opened at $65.36 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.99, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.50. Centene has a 1 year low of $60.83 and a 1 year high of $81.42. The business has a 50-day moving average of $72.59 and a 200-day moving average of $74.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.17. Centene had a return on equity of 14.19% and a net margin of 1.76%. The business had revenue of $40.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.43 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.11 EPS. Centene’s quarterly revenue was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Centene will post 6.82 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.62, for a total transaction of $620,960.00. Following the transaction, the president now owns 300,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,313,710.34. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Centene news, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.62, for a total value of $620,960.00. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 300,357 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,313,710.34. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Christopher J. Coughlin sold 878 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.75, for a total value of $67,386.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 25,504 shares in the company, valued at $1,957,432. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Centene

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Centene during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Centene in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Centene in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Headinvest LLC purchased a new position in shares of Centene in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Centene in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.