Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, fourteen have given a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $41.8125.

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays set a $44.00 price target on Centene and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $41.00 target price on shares of Centene in a report on Monday, February 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $59.00 price target on shares of Centene in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Mizuho set a $47.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday.

Institutional Trading of Centene

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. acquired a new stake in Centene in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Addison Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Centene by 455.6% during the 3rd quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 739 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 606 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Centene by 118.4% in the fourth quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 749 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 406 shares during the last quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Centene in the third quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, GoalVest Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Centene during the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Stock Performance

NYSE:CNC opened at $40.53 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The firm has a market cap of $19.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.48. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $42.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $36.55. Centene has a 1-year low of $25.08 and a 1-year high of $66.03.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 6th. The company reported ($1.19) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.22) by $0.03. The company had revenue of $49.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $48.41 billion. Centene had a negative net margin of 3.43% and a positive return on equity of 4.25%. The business’s revenue was up 21.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.80 EPS. Centene has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.000-3.000 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Centene will post 6.86 EPS for the current year.

About Centene

Centene Corporation (NYSE: CNC) is a diversified, multi-national healthcare enterprise that specializes in providing services to government-sponsored and national health programs. The company primarily acts as a managed care organization, delivering healthcare coverage and administering benefits for Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), Medicare Advantage, and individual marketplace plans. Centene also contracts with federal and state agencies to manage specialty care programs and community-based services for vulnerable populations.

Centene’s offerings extend beyond traditional insurance to include a range of specialty and support services.