Centene (NYSE:CNC) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Centene (NYSE:CNC) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Centene from $89.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $75.00 price target (down previously from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. UBS Group upgraded Centene from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $79.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Guggenheim began coverage on shares of Centene in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Centene has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $80.85.

Centene Stock Up 2.3 %

CNC stock opened at $63.82 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. Centene has a 12 month low of $55.03 and a 12 month high of $80.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.66 billion, a PE ratio of 10.23, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.53. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $59.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $61.65.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.31. Centene had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 2.03%. The company had revenue of $40.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.78 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.45 earnings per share. Centene’s revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Centene will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Centene

Several large 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% in the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 412 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the period. Pinney & Scofield Inc. purchased a new position in Centene in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Centene in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Centene during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Centene in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. 93.63% of the stock is currently 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.