Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Acquires 7,297 Shares of Centene Corporation $CNC

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its stake in shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) by 59.1% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 19,643 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,297 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in Centene were worth $643,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CNC. Oracle Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Centene in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,936,000. Numerai GP LLC grew its stake in shares of Centene by 401.4% in the third quarter. Numerai GP LLC now owns 64,487 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,301,000 after purchasing an additional 51,625 shares during the last quarter. Daytona Street Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Centene during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,566,000. Long Focus Capital Management LLC increased its position in Centene by 705.4% during the 3rd quarter. Long Focus Capital Management LLC now owns 2,299,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,028,000 after purchasing an additional 2,013,560 shares during the period. Finally, AIA Group Ltd increased its position in shares of Centene by 102.5% during the third quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 127,367 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,544,000 after buying an additional 64,475 shares during the period. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on CNC. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Centene from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $53.00 to $80.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $69.00 price objective on shares of Centene and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “sell” rating and set a $40.00 target price on shares of Centene in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Centene in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Centene from $39.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Centene presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $64.61.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CNC opened at $68.62 on Wednesday. Centene Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $25.08 and a fifty-two 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. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $62.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $48.37. The firm has a market cap of $33.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.22, a P/E/G ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.07.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $3.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.23 by $1.14. The company had revenue of $49.94 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $47.53 billion. Centene had a positive return on equity of 5.57% and a negative net margin of 3.25%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.90 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Centene Corporation 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.