Centene (NYSE:CNC) Cut to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Centene (NYSE:CNC) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Monday.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on CNC. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Centene from $80.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an overweight rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Centene in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Centene from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Centene from a buy rating to a hold rating and dropped their price target for the company from $83.00 to $69.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price target on Centene from $92.00 to $89.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $85.58.

Centene Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of Centene stock opened at $71.62 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock has a market cap of $38.22 billion, a PE ratio of 14.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.48. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $75.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $73.12. Centene has a 12 month low of $63.45 and a 12 month high of $81.42.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $39.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.83 billion. Centene had a return on equity of 14.45% and a net margin of 1.79%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.10 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Centene will post 6.8 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of Centene in the first quarter valued at about $914,080,000. Harris Associates L P grew its position in Centene by 172.8% in the 4th quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 10,863,367 shares of the company’s stock valued at $806,170,000 after purchasing an additional 6,881,450 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of Centene by 60.2% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,216,486 shares of the company’s stock valued at $409,390,000 after buying an additional 1,959,460 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Centene by 22.9% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,461,517 shares of the company’s stock valued at $295,799,000 after purchasing an additional 832,318 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in Centene by 14.2% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,113,759 shares of the company’s stock valued at $339,042,000 after buying an additional 636,683 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.63% 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.