Centene (NYSE:CNC) Trading Up 3.5% – Here’s Why

Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) traded up 3.5% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $60.66 and last traded at $61.00. 461,834 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 90% from the average session volume of 4,455,309 shares. The stock had previously closed at $58.94.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on CNC shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on Centene from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Centene from $66.00 to $71.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Centene from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $68.00 to $52.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Argus cut Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $79.92.

Centene Stock Up 3.1 %

The business’s 50-day moving average is $60.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $62.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.74, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.11.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.31. Centene had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The company had revenue of $40.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.78 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.45 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Centene Co. will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Centene

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Centene during the fourth quarter worth $1,536,167,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Centene by 42.8% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 7,742,698 shares of the company’s stock valued at $469,053,000 after purchasing an additional 2,319,952 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its position in shares of Centene by 1,788.1% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 2,245,511 shares of the company’s stock worth $136,033,000 after buying an additional 2,126,582 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Centene by 21.7% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,555,456 shares of the company’s stock valued at $639,450,000 after buying an additional 1,884,358 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Centene by 91.6% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,770,426 shares of the company’s stock valued at $228,414,000 after acquiring an additional 1,802,265 shares in the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.