Centene (NYSE:CNC) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.36 EPS

Centene (NYSE:CNC) released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.36, RTT News reports. Centene had a return on equity of 13.32% and a net margin of 1.90%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.45 earnings per share.

Centene Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of Centene stock opened at $65.00 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $61.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $67.14. The company has a market cap of $32.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.28, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Centene has a 1 year low of $55.03 and a 1 year high of $81.42.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director H James Dallas purchased 1,693 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $59.01 per share, with a total value of $99,903.93. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 1,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $99,903.93. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sarah London acquired 4,117 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $60.80 per share, for a total transaction of $250,313.60. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 667,229 shares in the company, valued at $40,567,523.20. The trade was a 0.62 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders acquired 45,010 shares of company stock valued at $2,660,276. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on CNC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $75.00 target price (down from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Centene in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price target on Centene from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Centene from $83.00 to $66.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Centene from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $79.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $80.92.

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.