Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the nineteen ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have given a hold recommendation, seven have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $56.9412.

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Centene from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $53.00 to $80.00 in a report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Centene from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Centene from $41.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Centene from $44.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Centene in a report on Monday, April 20th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNC. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Centene by 117.0% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 31,798,738 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,308,518,000 after acquiring an additional 17,143,904 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Centene during the 4th quarter worth $332,044,000. Deerfield Management Company L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Centene by 184.0% during the 3rd quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. now owns 9,046,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $322,761,000 after acquiring an additional 5,860,630 shares during the period. 8 Knots Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Centene during the 3rd quarter worth $186,662,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Centene by 52.6% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,171,568 shares of the company’s stock worth $295,111,000 after acquiring an additional 2,472,341 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Price Performance

Centene stock opened at $59.15 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $43.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.63. Centene has a 1 year low of $25.08 and a 1 year high of $60.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.21 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.12.

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