Bank of Nova Scotia Cuts Position in Centene Corporation $CNC

Bank of Nova Scotia reduced its holdings in shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) by 23.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 139,509 shares of the company’s stock after selling 43,122 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in Centene were worth $7,573,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Centene during the 1st quarter worth $26,000. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in shares of Centene by 248.2% in the second quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,156 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 824 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Centene by 265.8% in the second quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,178 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,000 after buying an additional 856 shares in the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Centene during the 2nd quarter valued at about $76,000. Finally, Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH acquired a new position in Centene during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $77,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Trading Up 1.6%

NYSE CNC opened at $38.71 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.03 billion, a PE ratio of -3.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.48. Centene Corporation has a one year low of $25.08 and a one year high of $66.81. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $36.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.08.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.21) by $0.71. The company had revenue of $49.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $47.50 billion. Centene had a positive return on equity of 7.82% and a negative net margin of 2.85%.Centene’s quarterly revenue was up 18.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.62 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Centene Corporation will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CNC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Centene from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Centene from $30.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Centene from $28.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Centene from $41.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on Centene from $28.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $40.00.

Centene 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.