SunTrust Banks reiterated their buy rating on shares of Centene (NYSE:CNC) in a report released on Friday, January 24th. The brokerage currently has a target price on the stock, up from their prior target price of .
Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the company. ValuEngine raised Centene from a strong sell rating to a sell rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Deutsche Bank reduced their price target on Centene from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Piper Jaffray Companies reaffirmed a buy rating and issued a $80.00 price target on shares of Centene in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Zacks Investment Research lowered Centene from a hold rating to a sell rating and set a $50.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Centene from $64.00 to $62.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Centene presently has a consensus rating of Buy and a consensus target price of $77.21.
Shares of NYSE:CNC opened at $63.16 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $26.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.11, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. Centene has a 52-week low of $41.62 and a 52-week high of $68.64. The business has a fifty day moving average of $63.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $53.95.
Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73. The business had revenue of $18.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.45 billion. Centene had a return on equity of 15.18% and a net margin of 1.77%. The company’s revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.69 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Centene will post 4.81 earnings per share for the current year.
In other news, EVP Jesse N. Hunter sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $1,200,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael F. Neidorff sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.00, for a total value of $4,275,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 7,368,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $419,976,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 236,500 shares of company stock valued at $13,964,620. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. North Star Investment Management Corp. acquired a new position in shares of Centene in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Citizens Financial Group Inc RI grew its holdings in Centene by 71.6% in the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc RI now owns 628 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. Savior LLC bought a new position in Centene in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Shine Investment Advisory Services Inc. grew its holdings in Centene by 44.9% in the 4th quarter. Shine Investment Advisory Services Inc. now owns 549 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Valeo Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Centene by 31.5% in the 4th quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 639 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. 97.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
About Centene
Centene Corporation operates as a diversified and multi-national healthcare enterprise that provides programs and services to under-insured and uninsured individuals in the United States. The company’s Managed Care segment offers health plan coverage to individuals through government subsidized programs, including Medicaid, the State children’s health insurance program, long-term services and support, foster care, and medicare-medicaid plans, which covers dually eligible individuals, as well as aged, blind, or disabled programs.
