Centene (NYSE:CNC) versus Addus HomeCare (NASDAQ:ADUS) Head-To-Head Analysis

Centene (NYSE:CNC) and Addus HomeCare (NASDAQ:ADUS) are both healthcare companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, earnings, dividends, institutional ownership, risk and profitability.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

93.6% of Centene shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 95.3% of Addus HomeCare shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.4% of Centene shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 4.1% of Addus HomeCare shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk and Volatility

Centene has a beta of 1.13, indicating that its stock price is 13% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Addus HomeCare has a beta of 0.83, indicating that its stock price is 17% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Centene and Addus HomeCare, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Centene	2	10	9	0	2.33
Addus HomeCare	1	4	5	1	2.55

Centene presently has a consensus target price of $70.05, indicating a potential upside of 7.24%. Addus HomeCare has a consensus target price of $129.33, indicating a potential upside of 13.12%. Given Addus HomeCare’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Addus HomeCare is more favorable than Centene.

Profitability

This table compares Centene and Addus HomeCare’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Centene	-2.51%	12.12%	3.20%
Addus HomeCare	7.13%	9.96%	7.62%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Centene and Addus HomeCare”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Centene	$194.78 billion	0.17	-$6.67 billion	($10.44)	-6.26
Addus HomeCare	$1.42 billion	1.50	$95.91 million	$5.70	20.06

Addus HomeCare has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Centene. Centene is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Addus HomeCare, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Addus HomeCare beats Centene on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Centene

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. This segment also provides healthcare products. The Medicare segment offers special needs and medicare supplement, and prescription drug plans. The Commercial segment provides health insurance marketplace product for individual, small, and large group commercials. It also operates clinical healthcare and pharmacies, as well as offers dental and speech therapy services. In addition, the company engages in the government contracts business under the TRICARE program and other healthcare related government contracts. It provides services through primary and specialty care physicians, hospitals, and ancillary providers. Centene Corporation was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in Saint Louis, Missouri.

About Addus HomeCare

Addus HomeCare Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides personal care services to elderly, chronically ill, disabled persons, and individuals who are at risk of hospitalization or institutionalization in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Personal Care, Hospice, and Home Health. The Personal Care segment provides non-medical assistance with activities of daily living. This segment offers services that include assistance with bathing, grooming, oral care, feeding and dressing, medication reminders, meal planning and preparation, housekeeping, and transportation services. The Hospice segment provides palliative nursing care, social work, spiritual counseling, homemaker, and bereavement counseling services for people who are terminally ill, as well as related services for their families. The Home Health segment offers skilled nursing and physical, occupational, and speech therapy for the individuals who requires assistance during an illness or after hospitalization. The company's payor clients include federal, state, and local governmental agencies; managed care organizations; commercial insurers; and private individuals. Addus HomeCare Corporation was founded in 1979 and is headquartered in Frisco, Texas.