Centene (NYSE:CNC) Hits New 1-Year Low on Analyst Downgrade

Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report)'s stock price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Thursday after Bank of America lowered their price target on the stock from $65.00 to $52.00. Bank of America currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Centene traded as low as $33.76 and last traded at $33.80, with a volume of 93126289 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $56.65.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Centene in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a "neutral" rating and set a $48.00 price target (down previously from $75.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Centene in a report on Monday, June 9th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Centene from $64.00 to $61.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Centene from $65.00 to $45.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $68.87.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Centene

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CNC. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Centene by 73.4% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 631 shares of the company's stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in Centene by 59.2% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 7,948 shares of the company's stock valued at $481,000 after acquiring an additional 2,955 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Centene by 245.5% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 2,947 shares of the company's stock valued at $179,000 after acquiring an additional 2,094 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Centene by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,803,437 shares of the company's stock valued at $230,412,000 after acquiring an additional 130,895 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Centene by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 824,260 shares of the company's stock valued at $49,934,000 after acquiring an additional 12,050 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company's stock.

Centene Trading Down 1.5%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.56 billion, a PE ratio of 4.96, a PEG ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 0.44. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $55.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $59.05.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.38. Centene had a net margin of 2.04% and a return on equity of 14.56%. The company had revenue of $46.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $43.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.26 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Centene Corporation will post 6.86 EPS for the current year.

About Centene

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.