Zacks Research Weighs in on Centene Co.’s Q1 2025 Earnings (NYSE:CNC)

Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) – Equities researchers at Zacks Research dropped their Q1 2025 earnings estimates for Centene in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, September 17th. Zacks Research analyst K. Dey now anticipates that the company will post earnings of $2.69 per share for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $2.72. The consensus estimate for Centene’s current full-year earnings is $6.82 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Centene’s Q2 2025 earnings at $1.85 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $0.99 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $7.34 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $2.99 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $2.08 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $8.14 EPS.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on CNC. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Centene from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Centene from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. StockNews.com raised shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Centene from $98.00 to $97.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of Centene from $110.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.58.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CNC opened at $75.63 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $74.48 and a 200 day moving average of $73.51. The stock has a market cap of $40.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.04, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.48. Centene has a 12 month low of $63.45 and a 12 month high of $81.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.02). Centene had a net margin of 1.79% and a return on equity of 14.45%. The business had revenue of $39.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.83 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.10 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Centene

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Centene in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,373,000. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Centene during the 2nd quarter valued at $206,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Centene by 64.0% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 32,481 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,154,000 after buying an additional 12,674 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in Centene by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 378,149 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,071,000 after buying an additional 2,565 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearline Capital LP raised its holdings in Centene by 37.5% during the 2nd quarter. Clearline Capital LP now owns 268,283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,787,000 after buying an additional 73,172 shares during the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.