Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Receives Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the fifteen brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $78.31.

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on CNC shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Centene from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Centene from $71.00 to $69.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Centene in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Barclays reissued an "equal weight" rating and issued a $65.00 price objective (down previously from $84.00) on shares of Centene in a research report on Monday, June 2nd.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Centene

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Centene in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Pinney & Scofield Inc. acquired a new position in Centene in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its stake in Centene by 75.3% in the fourth 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 period. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new position in Centene in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new position in Centene in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of CNC opened at $55.16 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $59.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $60.08. Centene has a 1-year low of $54.01 and a 1-year high of $80.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The stock has a market cap of $27.45 billion, a PE ratio of 8.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.45.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.38. Centene had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The business had revenue of $46.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $43.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.26 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate 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.

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