Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) Receives $62.50 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $64.6111.

CNC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Mizuho set a $63.00 price target on shares of Centene and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Centene from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Centene from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Centene from $50.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Centene from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CNC. Baird Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Centene during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $236,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Centene by 80.0% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 9,710 shares of the company’s stock valued at $527,000 after buying an additional 4,315 shares in the last quarter. CW Advisors LLC boosted its position in Centene by 20.3% in the second quarter. CW Advisors LLC now owns 4,863 shares of the company’s stock valued at $264,000 after buying an additional 820 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Centene by 6.1% during the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 44,945 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,440,000 after buying an additional 2,582 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its holdings in shares of Centene by 0.4% during the second quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 231,938 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,590,000 after buying an additional 967 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Stock Up 3.8%

Shares of NYSE CNC opened at $66.29 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.73 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.04, a PEG ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.07. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $62.76 and its 200 day moving average is $48.85. Centene has a 52 week low of $25.08 and a 52 week high of $69.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.12.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $3.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.23 by $1.14. Centene had a negative net margin of 3.25% and a positive return on equity of 5.57%. The business had revenue of $49.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $47.53 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.90 earnings per share. Centene’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Centene will post 3.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.