Heartland Advisors Inc. Grows Stock Position in Centene Corporation $CNC

Heartland Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) by 145.7% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 125,754 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 74,564 shares during the period. Heartland Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Centene were worth $4,117,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super acquired a new stake in Centene during the 1st quarter valued at $259,000. SouthState Bank Corp lifted its holdings in Centene by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. SouthState Bank Corp now owns 24,013 shares of the company’s stock worth $786,000 after buying an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Centene in the 1st quarter valued at about $338,000. Calamos Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Centene by 9.2% during the first quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC now owns 122,805 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,021,000 after acquiring an additional 10,312 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Centene by 19.9% during the first quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 13,537 shares of the company’s stock worth $443,000 after acquiring an additional 2,245 shares during the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Raymond James Financial set a $75.00 price target on Centene in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Zacks Research lowered Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Centene from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Centene from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Centene from $71.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Centene currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $64.61.

Centene Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE CNC opened at $66.29 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $62.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $48.90. Centene Corporation has a 52-week low of $25.08 and a 52-week high of $69.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.73 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.04, a PEG ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.07.

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

Centene Profile

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.