Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 9,910,000 shares, an increase of 63.8% from the February 28th total of 6,050,000 shares. Currently, 2.0% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 4,970,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.0 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Centene

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Centene during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,536,167,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Centene by 42.8% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its stake in Centene by 1,788.1% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 2,245,511 shares of the company’s stock worth $136,033,000 after buying an additional 2,126,582 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Centene by 21.7% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,555,456 shares of the company’s stock worth $639,450,000 after purchasing an additional 1,884,358 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Centene by 91.6% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,770,426 shares of the company’s stock valued at $228,414,000 after buying an additional 1,802,265 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CNC traded down $0.27 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $59.96. 2,652,972 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,606,450. Centene has a one year low of $55.03 and a one year high of $80.59. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $59.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $62.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.61, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.40.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $38.78 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.45 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Centene will post 6.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CNC. Jefferies Financial Group cut Centene from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $68.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Stephens cut their price objective on shares of Centene from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Centene from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $75.00 price objective (down from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Centene currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.92.

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.