Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 10,930,000 shares, an increase of 27.5% from the April 30th total of 8,570,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 4,960,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.2 days. Approximately 2.2% of the company's shares are sold short.

Centene Stock Performance

NYSE CNC traded down $0.39 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $54.98. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,945,303 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,875,297. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $60.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $60.17. The firm has a market cap of $27.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.48. Centene has a 52 week low of $54.01 and a 52 week high of $80.59.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.38. The business had revenue of $46.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $43.16 billion. Centene had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 2.03%. Centene's quarterly revenue was up 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.26 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Centene will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Centene

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. First Hawaiian Bank increased its position in shares of Centene by 7.7% during the first quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 27,886 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,693,000 after purchasing an additional 1,988 shares during the period. Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in Centene in the 1st quarter valued at $5,464,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Centene by 78.1% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,462 shares of the company's stock valued at $89,000 after buying an additional 641 shares in the last quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd boosted its stake in Centene by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 111,041 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,741,000 after buying an additional 1,258 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Belpointe Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Centene by 18.2% in the 1st quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 17,770 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,079,000 after buying an additional 2,741 shares in the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CNC shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Centene from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Centene from $64.00 to $61.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Centene in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Argus lowered Centene from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Centene currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $78.31.

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.