Centene (CNC) Stock Price, News & Analysis

Company Overview

Centene Corporation (NYSE: CNC) is a diversified, multi-national healthcare enterprise that specializes in providing services to government-sponsored and national health programs. The company primarily acts as a managed care organization, delivering healthcare coverage and administering benefits for Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), Medicare Advantage, and individual marketplace plans. Centene also contracts with federal and state agencies to manage specialty care programs and community-based services for vulnerable populations.

Centene’s offerings extend beyond traditional insurance to include a range of specialty and support services. These include pharmacy benefits management, behavioral health programs, care management and utilization review, provider network development, long-term services and supports, and correctional health services. The company emphasizes coordinated, value-based care models intended to improve outcomes for low-income and medically complex members, and it frequently integrates local community health initiatives and social determinants of health into its programs.

The company has expanded significantly through acquisitions and strategic partnerships to broaden its product set and geographic footprint. A notable transaction was the acquisition of WellCare Health Plans, which strengthened Centene’s presence in the Medicare Advantage and Medicaid markets. Centene also operates a number of subsidiaries and specialized business units to deliver targeted capabilities such as specialty pharmacy, behavioral health services, and managed care technology solutions.

Centene serves clients primarily across the United States and maintains operations and partnerships that support services internationally. The company is governed by an executive leadership team and board of directors responsible for strategy, regulatory relationships and operational oversight. Its focus remains on serving government-sponsored healthcare populations while expanding capabilities to address whole-person care and cost management in complex care settings.

Key Stats

• Today's Range: $57.43 to $59.43
• 50-Day Range: $31.72 to $59.34
• 52-Week Range: $25.08 to $62.21
• Volume: 4.45 million shs
• Average Volume: 7.52 million shs
• Market Capitalization: $29.22 billion
• P/E Ratio: N/A
• Dividend Yield: N/A
• Price Target: $53.82
• Consensus Rating: Hold

Centene Stock Analysis - MarketRank™

Centene scored higher than 48% of companies evaluated by MarketBeat, and ranked 552nd out of 851 stocks in the medical sector. Scores are calculated by averaging available category scores, with extra weight given to analysis and valuation.

Analyst's Opinion

• Score: 2.2 / 5
• Analyst Rating: Hold

Consensus Rating

Centene has received a consensus rating of Hold. The company's average rating score is 2.32, and is based on 1 strong buy rating, 6 buy ratings, 10 hold ratings, and 2 sell ratings.

Downside Risk

Centene has a consensus price target of $53.82, representing about 9.0% downside from its current price of $59.17.

Amount of Analyst Coverage

Centene has been the subject of 18 research reports in the past 90 days, demonstrating strong analyst interest in this stock.

Earnings and Valuation

• Score: 1.9 / 5
• Proj. Earnings Growth: 26.96%

Earnings Growth

Earnings for Centene are expected to grow by 26.96% in the coming year, from $3.45 to $4.38 per share.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. the Market

The P/E ratio of Centene is -4.50, which means that its earnings are negative and its P/E ratio cannot be compared to companies with positive earnings.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. Sector

The P/E ratio of Centene is -4.50, which means that its earnings are negative and its P/E ratio cannot be compared to companies with positive earnings.

Price to Earnings Growth Ratio

Centene has a PEG Ratio of 1.13. PEG Ratios above 1 indicate that a company could be overvalued.

Price to Book Value per Share Ratio

Centene has a P/B Ratio of 1.45. P/B Ratios below 3 indicates that a company is reasonably valued with respect to its assets and liabilities.

Short Interest

• Score: 3.0 / 5
• Short Interest Level: Healthy

Percentage of Shares Shorted

3.10% of the float of Centene has been sold short.

Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover

Centene has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 1.85, which is generally considered an acceptable ratio of short interest to trading volume.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in Centene has recently increased by 10.64%, indicating that investor sentiment is decreasing significantly.

Dividend

• Score: 0.0 / 5
• Dividend Strength: N/A

Dividend Yield

Centene does not currently pay a dividend.

Dividend Growth

Centene does not have a long track record of dividend growth.

News and Social Media

• Score: 3.5 / 5
• News Sentiment: 0.60

News Sentiment

Centene has a news sentiment score of 0.60. This score is calculated as an average of sentiment of articles about the company over the last seven days and ranges from 2 (good news) to -2 (bad news). This is a higher news sentiment than the 0.37 average news sentiment score of Medical companies.

News Coverage This Week

MarketBeat has tracked 5 news articles for Centene this week, compared to 11 articles on an average week.

Search Interest

37 people have searched for CNC on MarketBeat in the last 30 days. This is an increase of 95% compared to the previous 30 days.

MarketBeat Follows

6 people have added Centene to their MarketBeat watchlist in the last 30 days. This is an increase of 100% compared to the previous 30 days.

Company Ownership

• Score: 0.7 / 5
• Insider Trading: N/A

Insider Buying vs. Insider Selling

In the past three months, Centene insiders have not sold or bought any company stock.

Percentage Held by Insiders

0.37% of the stock of Centene is held by insiders.

Percentage Held by Institutions

93.63% of the stock of Centene is held by institutions. High institutional ownership can be a signal of strong market trust in this company.

Company Calendar

• Last Earnings: 4/28/2026
• Today: 5/19/2026
• Next Earnings (Estimated): 7/28/2026
• Fiscal Year End: 12/31/2026

Industry, Sector and Symbol

• Stock Exchange: NYSE
• Sector: Medical
• Industry: MED - HMO
• Sub-Industry: Managed Health Care
• Current Symbol: NYSE:CNC
• CIK: 1071739
• Web: www.centene.com
• Phone: (314) 725-4477
• Fax: 314-558-2428
• Employees: 61,100
• Year Founded: 1984

Price Target and Rating

• Average Price Target for Centene: $53.82
• High Price Target: $68.00
• Low Price Target: $37.00
• Potential Upside/Downside: -9.0%
• Consensus Rating: Hold
• Rating Score (0-4): 2.32
• Research Coverage: 19 Analysts

Profitability

• EPS (Trailing Twelve Months): ($13.14)
• Trailing P/E Ratio: N/A
• Forward P/E Ratio: 17.15
• P/E Growth: 1.13
• Net Income: -$6.67 billion
• Net Margins: -3.25%
• Pretax Margin: -3.22%
• Return on Equity: 5.57%
• Return on Assets: 1.54%

Debt

• Debt-to-Equity Ratio: 0.76
• Current Ratio: 1.12
• Quick Ratio: 1.12

Sales & Book Value

• Annual Sales: $198.10 billion
• Price / Sales: 0.15
• Cash Flow: $4.76 per share
• Price / Cash Flow: 12.44
• Book Value: $40.76 per share
• Price / Book: 1.45

Miscellaneous

• Outstanding Shares: 493,797,000
• Free Float: 491,970,000
• Market Cap: $29.22 billion
• Optionable: Optionable
• Beta: 1.06