Centene (CNC) Stock Price, News & Analysis

Company Overview

Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) is a healthcare enterprise that provides health insurance and related services, primarily through government-sponsored programs. Its offerings include Medicaid plans, Medicare products, health plans sold through the Affordable Care Act marketplace, and services for military families through government-sponsored healthcare programs.

The company also provides pharmacy, behavioral health, specialty healthcare, care management and administrative services through various subsidiaries and partner organizations. Centene serves members across the United States, with operations spanning all 50 states and a focus on individuals and families who receive coverage through public or subsidized healthcare programs.

Centene traces its history to 1984, when it was established as a nonprofit Medicaid plan in Wisconsin. It later expanded through organic growth and acquisitions, including its combination with WellCare Health Plans in 2020, significantly broadening its Medicaid, Medicare and marketplace businesses. Sarah M. London serves as Centene’s chief executive officer.

Key Stats

• Today's Range: $63.95 to $65.39
• 50-Day Range: $60.84 to $69.48
• 52-Week Range: $31.63 to $69.63
• Volume: 921,271 shs
• Average Volume: 5.67 million shs
• Market Capitalization: $32.19 billion
• P/E Ratio: N/A
• Dividend Yield: N/A
• Price Target: $70.05
• Consensus Rating: Hold

Centene Stock Analysis - MarketRank™

Centene scored higher than 72% of companies evaluated by MarketBeat, and ranked 208th out of 884 stocks in the healthcare sector. Scores are calculated by averaging available category scores, with extra weight given to analysis and valuation.

Analyst's Opinion

• Score: 2.8 / 5
• Analyst Rating: Hold

Consensus Rating

Centene has received a consensus rating of Hold. The company's average rating score is 2.33, and is based on no strong buy ratings, 9 buy ratings, 10 hold ratings, and 2 sell ratings.

Upside/Downside

The consensus price target for Centene is close to its current price, suggesting limited near-term upside or downside.

Amount of Analyst Coverage

Centene has been the subject of 13 research reports in the past 90 days, demonstrating strong analyst interest in this stock.

Earnings and Valuation

• Score: 2.5 / 5
• Proj. Earnings Growth: 9.20%

Earnings Growth

Earnings for Centene are expected to grow by 9.20% in the coming year, from $4.89 to $5.34 per share.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. the Market

The P/E ratio of Centene is -6.23, 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 -6.23, 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 0.41. PEG Ratios below 1 indicate that a company could be undervalued.

Price to Book Value per Share Ratio

Centene has a P/B Ratio of 1.59. 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

2.87% 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 3.47, 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 5.27%, 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: 0.68

News Sentiment

Centene has a news sentiment score of 0.68. 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 0.41 average news sentiment score of Healthcare companies.

News Coverage This Week

MarketBeat has tracked 9 news articles for Centene this week, compared to 7 articles on an average week.

Search Interest

Only 19 people have searched for CNC on MarketBeat in the last 30 days. This is a decrease of -27% compared to the previous 30 days.

MarketBeat Follows

17 people have added Centene to their MarketBeat watchlist in the last 30 days. This is an increase of 89% compared to the previous 30 days.

Company Ownership

• Score: 1.4 / 5
• Insider Trading: Selling Shares

Insider Buying vs. Insider Selling

In the past three months, Centene insiders have sold more of their company's stock than they have bought. Specifically, they have bought $0.00 in company stock and sold $6,891,182.00 in 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: 7/27/2026
• Today: 10/07/2026
• Next Earnings (Estimated): 10/27/2026
• Fiscal Year End: 12/31/2026

Industry, Sector and Symbol

• Stock Exchange: NYSE
• Sector: Healthcare
• Industry: Healthcare Providers & Services
• Sub-Industry: Managed Healthcare
• 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: $70.05
• High Price Target: $80.00
• Low Price Target: $40.00
• Potential Upside/Downside: +7.5%
• Consensus Rating: Hold
• Rating Score (0-4): 2.33
• Research Coverage: 21 Analysts

Profitability

• EPS (Trailing Twelve Months): ($10.44)
• Trailing P/E Ratio: N/A
• Forward P/E Ratio: 13.33
• P/E Growth: 0.41
• Net Income: -$6.67 billion
• Net Margins: -2.51%
• Pretax Margin: -2.28%
• Return on Equity: 12.12%
• Return on Assets: 3.20%

Debt

• Debt-to-Equity Ratio: 0.71
• Current Ratio: 1.15
• Quick Ratio: 1.15

Sales & Book Value

• Annual Sales: $202.94 billion
• Price / Sales: 0.16
• Cash Flow: $4.75 per share
• Price / Cash Flow: 13.72
• Book Value: $40.76 per share
• Price / Book: 1.60

Miscellaneous

• Outstanding Shares: 493,995,000
• Free Float: 492,167,000
• Market Cap: $32.19 billion
• Optionable: Optionable
• Beta: 1.13