Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Receives $79.77 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $79.77.

Several brokerages have recently commented on CNC. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Argus downgraded Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Centene from $71.00 to $69.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. StockNews.com cut shares of Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Centene from $64.00 to $61.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th.

Centene Trading Up 2.9%

Centene stock opened at $61.78 on Tuesday. 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 business’s 50-day simple moving average is $60.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $60.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.74 billion, a PE ratio of 9.90, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.48. Centene has a 52 week low of $55.03 and a 52 week high of $80.59.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.38. Centene had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 2.03%. The firm had revenue of $46.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $43.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.26 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Centene will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Centene

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNC. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its position in Centene by 75.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 412 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Pinney & Scofield Inc. bought a new stake in Centene in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Hurley Capital LLC purchased a new position in Centene in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new position in Centene in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new position in Centene in the first quarter valued at about $26,000. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Centene Company Profile

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.