Centene (NYSE:CNC) Stock Price Up 3.5% – Still a Buy?

Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)’s share price was up 3.5% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $60.66 and last traded at $61.00. Approximately 461,834 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 90% from the average daily volume of 4,455,309 shares. The stock had previously closed at $58.94.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Argus lowered shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Centene in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Centene from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $68.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Stephens cut their price objective on Centene from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.92.

Centene Stock Performance

The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $60.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $62.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.74, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.40.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.31. The firm had revenue of $40.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 period last year, the business posted $0.45 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Centene Co. will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Centene

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNC. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its position in shares of Centene by 75.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 412 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Pinney & Scofield Inc. bought a new position in Centene in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Centene in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Centene during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Centene during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Centene Company 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.