KBC Group NV Increases Stake in Centene Corporation $CNC

KBC Group NV lifted its stake in shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) by 35.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 365,464 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 96,238 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Centene were worth $11,965,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Daytona Street Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Centene during the fourth quarter worth $2,566,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Centene by 29.5% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,878,973 shares of the company’s stock worth $77,320,000 after buying an additional 428,503 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Centene by 114.1% during the 4th quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 45,798 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,885,000 after acquiring an additional 24,411 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its holdings in shares of Centene by 426.8% in the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 2,318,075 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,389,000 after acquiring an additional 1,878,064 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ninety One UK Ltd raised its position in shares of Centene by 162.6% during the 4th quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 1,720,422 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,795,000 after acquiring an additional 1,065,223 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CNC. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Centene in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Centene from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $65.00 target price (up from $47.00) on shares of Centene in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Centene from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on shares of Centene from $48.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Centene presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $64.61.

Centene Price Performance

CNC stock opened at $65.94 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The company has a market capitalization of $32.56 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.02, a PEG ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.07. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $63.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $49.44. Centene Corporation has a twelve month low of $25.08 and a twelve month high of $69.36.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $3.37 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.23 by $1.14. The firm had revenue of $49.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $47.53 billion. Centene had a negative net margin of 3.25% and a positive return on equity of 5.57%. Centene’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.90 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Centene Corporation will post 3.44 EPS for the current year.

About Centene

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.