Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. Sells 420 Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. reduced its position in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 4.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,764 shares of the company’s stock after selling 420 shares during the quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.’s holdings in Centene were worth $531,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNC. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its holdings in Centene by 75.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 412 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Rialto Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Centene during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in Centene during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in Centene by 73.4% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 631 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the period. Finally, Riverview Trust Co increased its position in Centene by 172.7% during the 4th quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 758 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares during the period. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Centene Stock Performance

Shares of Centene stock opened at $58.88 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The stock has a market cap of $29.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.44, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.40. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $60.27 and its 200 day moving average is $63.27. Centene Co. has a 1 year low of $55.03 and a 1 year high of $80.59.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $40.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.78 billion. Centene had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.45 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Centene Co. will post 6.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CNC. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Centene from $66.00 to $71.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $75.00 target price (down from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. UBS Group raised shares of Centene from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $79.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of Centene from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $79.92.

Centene Profile

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.