Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Centene Corporation has received a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from eighteen brokerages, with two analysts rating it as a sell, thirteen as a hold, and three as a buy.
• Shares of Centene have experienced a 1.7% decline recently, with the stock trading at $37.81.
• The company's most recent earnings report revealed a loss of $0.16 per share, significantly missing the consensus estimate of $0.23, despite a revenue increase of 22.4% year-over-year.

Shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus recommendation of "Hold" by the eighteen ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $39.0667.

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on CNC shares. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Centene from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, September 12th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Centene from $33.00 to $28.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 4th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Centene from $68.00 to $28.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Centene from $48.00 to $30.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Bank of America cut shares of Centene from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $52.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th.

Centene Stock Down 1.7%

Shares of Centene stock opened at $37.81 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The firm has a market cap of $18.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.48. Centene has a fifty-two week low of $25.08 and a fifty-two week high of $73.50. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $30.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.77.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 25th. The company reported ($0.16) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.23 by ($0.39). The firm had revenue of $48.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.71 billion. Centene had a net margin of 1.15% and a return on equity of 9.57%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 22.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.42 earnings per share. Centene has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.750-1.750 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Centene will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Theodore R. Samuels II purchased 9,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $27.62 per share, for a total transaction of $248,580.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 32,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $883,840. This represents a 39.13% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Sarah London purchased 19,230 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The shares were bought at an average price of $25.50 per share, for a total transaction of $490,365.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 845,275 shares in the company, valued at $21,554,512.50. This represents a 2.33% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Centene

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in CNC. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Centene by 34.1% during the 1st quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 20,042 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,217,000 after purchasing an additional 5,092 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Centene by 32.3% during the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 6,333 shares of the company's stock worth $383,000 after acquiring an additional 1,546 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Centene during the 1st quarter worth $538,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Centene by 55.7% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,095 shares of the company's stock worth $370,000 after acquiring an additional 2,181 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in Centene by 326.2% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 108,596 shares of the company's stock worth $6,593,000 after buying an additional 83,118 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company's stock.

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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