Centene (CNC) Stock Price, News & Analysis

Company Overview

Centene Corporation is a U.S. health care company that provides managed care and related services, primarily for people enrolled in government-sponsored health programs. Its offerings include Medicaid and Medicare plans, as well as health insurance sold through the Affordable Care Act marketplace.

Centene serves members through health plans and a network of health care providers. Its businesses include Ambetter, which offers marketplace health plans, and Wellcare, which provides Medicare-related coverage. The company also provides services such as pharmacy benefits and care coordination.

Founded in 1984 as a nonprofit Medicaid plan in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Centene has grown into a national health care organization. It is headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, and operates across the United States.

Key Stats

• Today's Range: $69.96 to $71.07
• 50-Day Range: $60.95 to $76.03
• 52-Week Range: $31.63 to $78.08
• Volume: 4.20 million shs
• Average Volume: 5.87 million shs
• Market Capitalization: $34.92 billion
• P/E Ratio: 24.15
• Dividend Yield: N/A
• Price Target: $73.80
• Consensus Rating: Hold

Centene Stock Analysis - MarketRank™

Centene scored higher than 80% of companies evaluated by MarketBeat, and ranked 88th out of 892 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: 2.6 / 5
• Analyst Rating: Hold

Consensus Rating

Centene has received a consensus rating of Hold. The company's average rating score is 2.38, and is based on no strong buy ratings, 9 buy ratings, 11 hold ratings, and 1 sell rating.

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: 3.1 / 5
• Proj. Earnings Growth: 4.55%

Earnings Growth

Earnings for Centene are expected to grow by 4.55% in the coming year, from $5.27 to $5.51 per share.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. the Market

The P/E ratio of Centene is 24.15, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the market average P/E ratio of about 26.18.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. Sector

The P/E ratio of Centene is 24.15, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the Healthcare sector average P/E ratio of about 34.82.

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 1.57. P/B Ratios below 3 indicates that a company is reasonably valued with respect to its assets and liabilities.

Short Interest

• Score: 4.0 / 5
• Short Interest Level: Healthy

Percentage of Shares Shorted

2.13% 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 2.04, which is generally considered an acceptable ratio of short interest to trading volume.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in Centene has recently decreased by 3.92%, indicating that investor sentiment is improving.

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: 3.7 / 5
• News Sentiment: 0.95

News Sentiment

Centene has a news sentiment score of 0.95. 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 0.59 average news sentiment score of Healthcare companies.

News Coverage This Week

MarketBeat has tracked 12 news articles for Centene this week, compared to 7 articles on an average week.

Search Interest

Only 14 people have searched for CNC on MarketBeat in the last 30 days. This is a decrease of -7% compared to the previous 30 days.

MarketBeat Follows

18 people have added Centene to their MarketBeat watchlist in the last 30 days. This is an increase of 64% 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: 10/27/2026
• Today: 11/12/2026
• 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: $73.80
• High Price Target: $82.00
• Low Price Target: $40.00
• Potential Upside/Downside: +4.6%
• Consensus Rating: Hold
• Rating Score (0-4): 2.38
• Research Coverage: 21 Analysts

Profitability

• EPS (Trailing Twelve Months): $2.92
• Trailing P/E Ratio: 24.15
• Forward P/E Ratio: 12.80
• P/E Growth: 0.41
• Net Income: -$6.67 billion
• Net Margins: 0.72%
• Pretax Margin: 0.94%
• Return on Equity: 12.15%
• Return on Assets: 3.28%

Debt

• Debt-to-Equity Ratio: 0.69
• Current Ratio: 1.16
• Quick Ratio: 1.16

Sales & Book Value

• Annual Sales: $194.78 billion
• Price / Sales: 0.18
• Cash Flow: $4.71 per share
• Price / Cash Flow: 14.98
• Book Value: $45.01 per share
• Price / Book: 1.57

Miscellaneous

• Outstanding Shares: 495,070,000
• Free Float: 493,236,000
• Market Cap: $34.92 billion
• Optionable: Optionable
• Beta: 1.07