Centene (NYSE:CNC) Releases Earnings Results

Centene (NYSE:CNC) issued its earnings results on Friday. The company reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.23, reports. Centene had a net margin of 1.79% and a return on equity of 14.45%. The business had revenue of $42.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $37.91 billion.

Centene Stock Performance

Shares of CNC opened at $64.22 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $72.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $72.31. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The company has a market capitalization of $34.27 billion, a PE ratio of 12.77, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.48. Centene has a 52-week low of $59.77 and a 52-week high of $81.42.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Centene

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in CNC. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of Centene in the 1st quarter valued at about $914,080,000. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in Centene by 60.2% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,216,486 shares of the company’s stock valued at $409,390,000 after acquiring an additional 1,959,460 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Centene by 22.9% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,461,517 shares of the company’s stock valued at $295,799,000 after acquiring an additional 832,318 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in Centene by 14.2% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,113,759 shares of the company’s stock valued at $339,042,000 after acquiring an additional 636,683 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ increased its holdings in Centene by 42.3% during the 2nd quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 1,400,276 shares of the company’s stock valued at $92,838,000 after acquiring an additional 416,003 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CNC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Centene from $93.00 to $91.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 13th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Centene from $80.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on shares of Centene from $110.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 29th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Centene from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.17.

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.