Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) Receives $40.38 Average Target Price from Analysts

Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the nineteen ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $40.8125.

CNC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Centene in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Centene from $28.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $59.00 price target on shares of Centene in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $38.00 price target (up previously from $33.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Barclays set a $44.00 price objective on Centene and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Centene

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNC. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Centene during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,435,997,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Centene by 76.6% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 14,654,834 shares of the company’s stock worth $522,885,000 after acquiring an additional 6,356,152 shares during the period. Deerfield Management Company L.P. grew its holdings in Centene by 184.0% in the third quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. now owns 9,046,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $322,761,000 after purchasing an additional 5,860,630 shares during the period. 8 Knots Management LLC acquired a new position in Centene during the third quarter worth $186,662,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in Centene by 32.0% in the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 8,716,056 shares of the company’s stock valued at $310,989,000 after buying an additional 2,111,674 shares in the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Centene Stock Performance

Shares of Centene stock opened at $45.33 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $22.28 billion, a PE ratio of -4.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $34.99. Centene has a one year low of $25.08 and a one year high of $66.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.08.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.21) by $0.71. Centene had a negative net margin of 2.85% and a positive return on equity of 7.82%. The company had revenue of $49.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $47.50 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.62 earnings per share. Centene’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Centene will post 6.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Centene

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.