Centene (NYSE:CNC) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at StockNews.com

Centene (NYSE:CNC) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Friday.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on shares of Centene from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Centene from $89.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. Stephens lowered their target price on Centene from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Centene from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $79.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $80.85.

Centene Trading Up 2.3 %

Centene stock traded up $1.43 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $63.82. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,887,943 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,694,412. Centene has a 1 year low of $55.03 and a 1 year high of $80.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.66 billion, a PE ratio of 10.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.53. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $59.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $61.73.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.31. The firm had revenue of $40.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.78 billion. Centene had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 2.03%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.45 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Centene will post 6.86 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Centene

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Centene by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC now owns 221,156 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,398,000 after purchasing an additional 10,515 shares during the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Centene by 68.4% in the 4th quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 36,126 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,189,000 after buying an additional 14,671 shares in the last quarter. Polianta Ltd grew its position in shares of Centene by 41.7% in the 4th quarter. Polianta Ltd now owns 22,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,338,000 after buying an additional 6,500 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its position in Centene by 27.3% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,602,533 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,082,000 after acquiring an additional 343,559 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Washington Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Centene by 40.9% in the fourth quarter. Washington Capital Management Inc. now owns 19,130 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,159,000 after acquiring an additional 5,550 shares in the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.