StockNews.com Lowers Centene (NYSE:CNC) to Buy

Centene (NYSE:CNC) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Thursday.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on the company. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Centene from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. Barclays started coverage on Centene in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $101.00 target price on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their target price on Centene from $82.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 15th. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $85.00 target price (down previously from $92.00) on shares of Centene in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Centene from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Centene has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.46.

Centene Stock Performance

NYSE:CNC traded up $0.07 on Thursday, hitting $78.42. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,351,958 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,005,035. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $77.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $74.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.38. Centene has a one year low of $60.83 and a one year high of $81.42.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $39.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.16 billion. Centene had a return on equity of 14.26% and a net margin of 1.75%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.86 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Centene will post 6.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total transaction of $900,840.00. Following the sale, the president now owns 235,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,668,850.55. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Centene news, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total value of $900,840.00. Following the sale, the president now owns 235,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,668,850.55. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Lori Jean Robinson sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.41, for a total value of $774,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 11,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $886,731.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CNC. Cibc World Market Inc. raised its position in Centene by 1,401.4% during the 1st quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 46,333 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,901,000 after purchasing an additional 43,247 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its position in shares of Centene by 7.2% in the 1st quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 9,734 shares of the company’s stock worth $841,000 after acquiring an additional 657 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL raised its position in shares of Centene by 104.7% in the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 43,760 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,684,000 after acquiring an additional 22,382 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new position in shares of Centene in the 1st quarter worth about $203,000. Finally, Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. raised its position in shares of Centene by 10.0% in the 1st quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 37,404 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,149,000 after acquiring an additional 3,414 shares in the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.