Centene (NYSE:CNC) Trading Up 4.8% - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) saw a trading increase of 4.8%, rising to $28.04, with trading volume surging by 321% compared to its average daily volume.
• Recent analyst reports show a mixed outlook, with price targets ranging from $28.00 to $65.00, and an average consensus rating of "Hold".
• Centene reported a quarterly EPS of ($0.16), missing estimates by ($0.39), despite a revenue growth of 22.4% year-over-year.
• Institutional investors own 93.63% of Centene's stock, with significant stake increases among firms like Captrust Financial Advisors and LPL Financial LLC.

Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) was up 4.8% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $28.43 and last traded at $28.04. Approximately 31,184,847 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 321% from the average daily volume of 7,403,670 shares. The stock had previously closed at $26.76.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CNC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price target on Centene from $90.00 to $65.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Morgan Stanley cut Centene from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $70.00 to $33.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $45.00 price target (down previously from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Centene from $68.00 to $28.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Centene from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $49.94.

Centene Trading Up 4.8%

The company has a 50 day moving average of $47.43 and a 200 day moving average of $56.11. 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 firm has a market cap of $13.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 0.44.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 25th. The company reported ($0.16) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.23 by ($0.39). Centene had a net margin of 2.04% and a return on equity of 14.56%. The company's revenue was up 22.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.42 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Centene Corporation will post 6.86 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Centene

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its stake in Centene by 55.6% in the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 45,103 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,732,000 after acquiring an additional 16,108 shares during the period. Diametric Capital LP acquired a new position in Centene in the fourth quarter valued at about $610,000. LPL Financial LLC grew its stake in Centene by 85.6% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 216,928 shares of the company's stock valued at $13,142,000 after acquiring an additional 100,039 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in Centene by 32.3% in the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 6,333 shares of the company's stock valued at $383,000 after acquiring an additional 1,546 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Centene by 30.0% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 708,717 shares of the company's stock valued at $43,026,000 after acquiring an additional 163,462 shares during the period. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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