Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) has earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the twenty research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $42.0625.

Several research firms recently weighed in on CNC. Mizuho set a $41.00 price objective on shares of Centene and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Centene from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Argus upgraded shares of Centene to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Centene from $32.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on Centene from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th.

Centene Stock Performance

CNC stock opened at $34.47 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The firm has a market cap of $16.95 billion, a PE ratio of -2.53, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.48. The business has a 50 day moving average of $42.81 and a 200-day moving average of $38.33. Centene has a 12-month low of $25.08 and a 12-month high of $66.03.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 6th. The company reported ($1.19) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.22) by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $49.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $48.41 billion. Centene had a positive return on equity of 4.25% and a negative net margin of 3.43%.The business’s revenue was up 21.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.80 earnings per share. Centene has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.000-3.000 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Centene will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Centene

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Centene by 1.5% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 58,396,605 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,169,768,000 after acquiring an additional 869,706 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Centene by 117.0% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 31,798,738 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,308,518,000 after purchasing an additional 17,143,904 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Centene during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,435,997,000. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Centene by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 23,186,927 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,258,586,000 after buying an additional 514,600 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Centene by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,271,492 shares of the company’s stock worth $554,338,000 after buying an additional 697,277 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Company Profile

Centene Corporation (NYSE: CNC) is a diversified, multi-national healthcare enterprise that specializes in providing services to government-sponsored and national health programs. The company primarily acts as a managed care organization, delivering healthcare coverage and administering benefits for Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), Medicare Advantage, and individual marketplace plans. Centene also contracts with federal and state agencies to manage specialty care programs and community-based services for vulnerable populations.

Centene’s offerings extend beyond traditional insurance to include a range of specialty and support services.