SG Americas Securities LLC Raises Position in Centene Corporation $CNC

SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) by 47.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,183,619 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 381,413 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC owned about 0.24% of Centene worth $38,752,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CNC. Polianta Ltd increased its holdings in Centene by 21.0% during the 1st quarter. Polianta Ltd now owns 45,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,473,000 after purchasing an additional 7,800 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S grew its position in shares of Centene by 161.7% during the first quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 43,151 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,413,000 after buying an additional 26,664 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co increased its stake in shares of Centene by 20.6% during the first quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 25,199 shares of the company’s stock worth $825,000 after buying an additional 4,306 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its holdings in Centene by 248.4% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 18,383 shares of the company’s stock valued at $756,000 after acquiring an additional 13,107 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Centene by 21.3% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 157,519 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,482,000 after acquiring an additional 27,639 shares during the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Centene News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Centene this week:

• Positive Sentiment: RBC started coverage on Centene with a “sector perform” rating and a $70 price target, implying upside from current levels and reinforcing investor confidence in the stock. RBC coverage on Centene
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks highlighted Centene as a Strong Buy growth stock and also called it a strong value and strong momentum name, suggesting improving market sentiment around the shares. Zacks growth stocks list
• Positive Sentiment: Centene announced the appointment of Lauren M. Tyler to its Board of Directors, a governance move that can be viewed as a sign of continued board refreshment and strategic oversight. Centene appoints Lauren M. Tyler to board
• Neutral Sentiment: Health Net said it is providing special assistance to members and providers affected by the Palos warehouse fire in Los Angeles; this is operationally supportive but not likely to materially change Centene’s fundamentals on its own. Health Net wildfire assistance
• Neutral Sentiment: Commentary pieces on Centene’s governance, efficiency, and style scores mainly reinforce the investment case rather than introduce a new catalyst. Centene governance and efficiency article

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on CNC. Raymond James Financial set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Centene from $58.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Centene from $44.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Centene from $50.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on Centene in a report on Tuesday. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $70.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $60.78.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of CNC opened at $63.36 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.12. Centene Corporation has a 1-year low of $25.08 and a 1-year high of $66.55. The stock has a market cap of $31.29 billion, a PE ratio of -4.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 1.09. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $55.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $45.50.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $3.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.23 by $1.14. The business had revenue of $49.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $47.53 billion. Centene had a positive return on equity of 5.57% and a negative net margin of 3.25%.The business’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.90 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Centene Corporation will post 3.45 EPS for the current year.

Centene 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.