Centene's (CNC) Neutral Rating Reaffirmed at Cantor Fitzgerald

Key Points

• Centene's stock retains a "neutral" rating from Cantor Fitzgerald, with a price target of $38.00, indicating a possible upside of 31.05% from recent trading levels.
• Wells Fargo & Company recently downgraded Centene's rating from "overweight" to "equal weight," significantly lowering their price objective to $30.00, which reflects a growing caution among analysts.
• Centene reported disappointing earnings, missing EPS estimates by $0.39, despite a year-over-year revenue increase of 22.4%, highlighting challenges in their financial performance.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "neutral" rating reaffirmed by Cantor Fitzgerald in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $38.00 price target on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald's price target would suggest a potential upside of 31.05% from the company's previous close.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on CNC. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Centene from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $72.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Centene from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 12th. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on shares of Centene from $51.00 to $43.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 28th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Centene from $45.00 to $31.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Centene from $65.00 to $45.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $42.20.

Centene Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE CNC opened at $28.9960 on Tuesday. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $34.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $50.47. The company has a market cap of $14.24 billion, a PE ratio of 7.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.40. Centene has a 52-week low of $25.08 and a 52-week high of $80.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.10.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 25th. The company reported ($0.16) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.23 by ($0.39). The firm had revenue of $48.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.71 billion. Centene had a return on equity of 9.57% and a net margin of 1.15%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 22.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.42 EPS. Centene has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.750-1.750 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Centene will post 6.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Sarah London bought 19,230 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $25.50 per share, for a total transaction of $490,365.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 845,275 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,554,512.50. The trade was a 2.33% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Theodore R. Samuels II bought 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $27.62 per share, with a total value of $248,580.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 32,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $883,840. The trade was a 39.13% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Centene

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its position in Centene by 8.8% during the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 2,092 shares of the company's stock worth $127,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. Quadcap Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Centene by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Quadcap Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,617 shares of the company's stock worth $341,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Poinciana Advisors Group LLC grew its position in Centene by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Poinciana Advisors Group LLC now owns 7,221 shares of the company's stock worth $438,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel grew its position in Centene by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 3,811 shares of the company's stock worth $234,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP grew its position in Centene by 6.1% during the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 4,387 shares of the company's stock worth $270,000 after purchasing an additional 254 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company's stock.

Centene Company Profile

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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