Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $79.92.

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com lowered Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Barclays upped their target price on Centene from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Centene from $66.00 to $71.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $75.00 target price (down from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Tuesday, December 17th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Theodore R. Samuels II bought 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $58.86 per share, for a total transaction of $294,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,353,780. This trade represents a 27.78 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas Greco acquired 17,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were bought at an average price of $59.75 per share, with a total value of $1,015,750.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,309 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,153,712.75. The trade was a 736.25 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought 23,693 shares of company stock worth $1,409,954 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Centene

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lifted its position in shares of Centene by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 4,094 shares of the company’s stock valued at $248,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its position in shares of Centene by 75.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 412 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its position in shares of Centene by 23.7% during the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 956 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Centene by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,591 shares of the company’s stock valued at $218,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intellectus Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Centene by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC now owns 7,224 shares of the company’s stock valued at $438,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CNC opened at $58.65 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $29.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.40, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Centene has a 52 week low of $55.03 and a 52 week high of $80.59. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $60.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $64.96.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $40.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.78 billion. Centene had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 2.03%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.45 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Centene will post 6.86 EPS for the current year.

Centene Company 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.