Centene (NYSE:CNC) Hits New 12-Month Low - Here's Why

Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $53.78 and last traded at $54.07, with a volume of 419834 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $54.40.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CNC has been the topic of several research reports. Wall Street Zen lowered Centene from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Centene from $64.00 to $61.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Centene in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Centene from $71.00 to $69.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Barclays reissued an "equal weight" rating and set a $65.00 price objective (down from $84.00) on shares of Centene in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Centene has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $77.71.

Centene Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $26.57 billion, a PE ratio of 7.95, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The company's 50 day moving average price is $58.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $59.76.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.38. Centene had a return on equity of 14.56% and a net margin of 2.04%. The firm had revenue of $46.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $43.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.26 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Centene Corporation will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Centene

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CNC. Voya Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Centene by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 322,302 shares of the company's stock valued at $19,567,000 after acquiring an additional 7,446 shares during the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank raised its stake in shares of Centene by 7.7% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Strs Ohio bought a new position in shares of Centene during the first quarter worth about $5,464,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in Centene by 78.1% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,462 shares of the company's stock worth $89,000 after purchasing an additional 641 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IFM Investors Pty Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Centene by 1.1% during the first quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 111,041 shares of the company's stock worth $6,741,000 after purchasing an additional 1,258 shares during the period. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.