Centene (NYSE:CNC) vs. Exagen (NASDAQ:XGN) Head to Head Survey

Exagen (NASDAQ:XGN) and Centene (NYSE:CNC) are both healthcare companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, dividends, profitability, valuation, earnings and institutional ownership.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Exagen and Centene, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Exagen	1	0	7	1	2.89
Centene	2	10	9	0	2.33

Exagen currently has a consensus target price of $9.75, indicating a potential upside of 12.04%. Centene has a consensus target price of $70.05, indicating a potential upside of 1.31%. Given Exagen’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Exagen is more favorable than Centene.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

75.2% of Exagen shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 93.6% of Centene shares are held by institutional investors. 10.4% of Exagen shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.4% of Centene shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Exagen and Centene’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Exagen	-26.61%	-104.46%	-28.93%
Centene	-2.51%	12.12%	3.20%

Risk and Volatility

Exagen has a beta of 2.12, indicating that its stock price is 112% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Centene has a beta of 1.13, indicating that its stock price is 13% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Exagen and Centene”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Exagen	$66.57 million	3.17	-$19.95 million	($0.81)	-10.74
Centene	$194.78 billion	0.18	-$6.67 billion	($10.44)	-6.62

Exagen has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Centene. Exagen is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Centene, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Exagen beats Centene on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Exagen

Exagen Inc. develops and commercializes various testing products under the AVISE brand in the United States. The company enables healthcare providers to care for patients through the diagnosis, prognosis, and monitoring of autoimmune and autoimmune-related diseases, including systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Its lead testing product is AVISE CTD that enables differential diagnosis for patients presenting with symptoms indicative of various connective tissue diseases (CTDs) and other related diseases with overlapping symptoms. The company offers AVISE Lupus that measures activation of the complement system by quantifying the level of B-cell C4d and erythrocyte bound C4d in the patient's blood; and AVISE APS, which consists of a panel of autoantibody tests that aids in the diagnosis and management of APS. In addition, it provides AVISE Vasculitis AAV, which utilizes a testing panel of individual analytes to provide physicians with results in the assessment and monitoring of anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody associated vasculitis; AVISE SLE Prognostic, a panel of autoantibodies for assessing the potential for complications affecting the kidney, brain, and cardiovascular system; and AVISE Anti-CarP test, which identifies RA patients with severe disease. Further, the company offers AVISE SLE Monitor, a biomarker blood test; AVISE MTX, a patented and validated blood test; and AVISE HCQ, a blood test to monitor levels of hydroxychloroquine. It has a research collaboration and license agreement with Allegheny Health Network (AHN) Research Institute to develop novel patented biomarkers. The company was formerly known as Exagen Diagnostics, Inc. and changed its name to Exagen Inc. in January 2019. Exagen Inc. was incorporated in 2002 and is headquartered in Vista, California.

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. This segment also provides healthcare products. The Medicare segment offers special needs and medicare supplement, and prescription drug plans. The Commercial segment provides health insurance marketplace product for individual, small, and large group commercials. It also operates clinical healthcare and pharmacies, as well as offers dental and speech therapy services. In addition, the company engages in the government contracts business under the TRICARE program and other healthcare related government contracts. It provides services through primary and specialty care physicians, hospitals, and ancillary providers. Centene Corporation was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in Saint Louis, Missouri.