Centene (NYSE:CNC) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

by · The Cerbat Gem

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Centene (NYSE:CNC – Free Report) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report released on Saturday morning.

Several other analysts also recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Centene from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Raymond James Financial set a $75.00 target price on shares of Centene in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $65.00 price target (up from $47.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Zacks Research lowered Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on Centene from $58.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $64.61.

Read Our Latest Research Report on Centene

Centene Stock Performance

CNC stock opened at $65.88 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $62.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $49.08. Centene has a 52 week low of $25.08 and a 52 week high of $69.36. The stock has a market cap of $32.53 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.01, a P/E/G ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.12.

Centene (NYSE:CNC – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $3.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.23 by $1.14. Centene had a positive return on equity of 5.57% and a negative net margin of 3.25%.The business had revenue of $49.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $47.53 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.90 earnings per share. Centene’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Centene will post 3.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Centene

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Daytona Street Capital LLC bought a new position in Centene in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,566,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Centene by 29.5% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,878,973 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,320,000 after purchasing an additional 428,503 shares during the period. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Centene by 114.1% in the 4th quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 45,798 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,885,000 after purchasing an additional 24,411 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its stake in shares of Centene by 426.8% during the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 2,318,075 shares of the company’s stock worth $95,389,000 after purchasing an additional 1,878,064 shares during the period. Finally, Ninety One UK Ltd increased its holdings in Centene by 162.6% in the fourth quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 1,720,422 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,795,000 after purchasing an additional 1,065,223 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Centene Corporation (NYSE: CNC) is a diversified, multi-national healthcare enterprise that specializes in providing services to government-sponsored and national health programs. The company primarily acts as a managed care organization, delivering healthcare coverage and administering benefits for Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), Medicare Advantage, and individual marketplace plans. Centene also contracts with federal and state agencies to manage specialty care programs and community-based services for vulnerable populations.

Centene’s offerings extend beyond traditional insurance to include a range of specialty and support services.

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