Zacks Research Has Positive Forecast for Centene Q3 Earnings

Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) – Investment analysts at Zacks Research increased their Q3 2025 earnings estimates for shares of Centene in a report released on Monday, February 24th. Zacks Research analyst K. Dey now expects that the company will earn $1.78 per share for the quarter, up from their prior forecast of $1.77. The consensus estimate for Centene’s current full-year earnings is $6.86 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Centene’s FY2025 earnings at $7.27 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $2.32 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $2.25 EPS and Q3 2026 earnings at $1.76 EPS.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on CNC. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Centene from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $68.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Argus lowered shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Centene from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Centene in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $79.92.

Centene Stock Performance

Shares of CNC opened at $56.83 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $61.04 and its 200-day moving average is $65.43. Centene has a 12 month low of $55.03 and a 12 month high of $80.67. The firm has a market cap of $28.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.31. Centene had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The company had revenue of $40.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.78 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.45 EPS. Centene’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Centene

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Harris Associates L P raised its stake in shares of Centene by 5.7% during the third quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 26,314,183 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,980,932,000 after buying an additional 1,420,825 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Centene in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,536,167,000. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Centene by 0.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 23,468,159 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,766,683,000 after buying an additional 111,654 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Centene by 21.7% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,555,456 shares of the company’s stock valued at $639,450,000 after purchasing an additional 1,884,358 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Centene by 42.8% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 7,742,698 shares of the company’s stock valued at $469,053,000 after purchasing an additional 2,319,952 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Centene

In other news, Director Theodore R. Samuels II purchased 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $58.86 per share, with a total value of $294,300.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 23,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,353,780. This trade represents a 27.78 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director H James Dallas purchased 1,693 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $59.01 per share, with a total value of $99,903.93. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 1,693 shares in the company, valued at $99,903.93. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought 23,693 shares of company stock valued at $1,409,954 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.