Truist Financial Boosts Centene (NYSE:CNC) Price Target to $49.00

Centene (NYSE:CNC) had its target price upped by stock analysts at Truist Financial from $47.00 to $49.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Truist Financial’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 13.98% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Barclays set a $44.00 price target on shares of Centene and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Centene from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Centene from $28.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. TD Cowen increased their price target on Centene from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Centene from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $42.00.

Centene Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of CNC stock opened at $42.99 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $21.14 billion, a PE ratio of -3.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $42.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.35. 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) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.22) by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $49.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $48.41 billion. Centene had a positive return on equity of 4.25% and a negative net margin of 3.43%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.80 EPS. Centene has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.000-3.000 EPS. Research analysts predict that Centene will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Centene

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Baird Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Centene in the 1st quarter worth $236,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Centene by 80.0% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 9,710 shares of the company’s stock worth $527,000 after purchasing an additional 4,315 shares in the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC lifted its position in shares of Centene by 187.9% during the second quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 66,790 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,625,000 after buying an additional 43,595 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Centene by 7.2% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 759,423 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,221,000 after buying an additional 50,706 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund grew its position in shares of Centene by 99.3% in the 2nd quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 134,260 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,288,000 after buying an additional 66,900 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Company Profile

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.