Analysts Set Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) PT at $56.94

Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the nineteen analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $57.6471.

A number of brokerages have commented on CNC. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Centene from $39.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Argus upgraded shares of Centene to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Centene from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Raymond James Financial set a $60.00 price objective on Centene in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Centene from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $53.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th.

Centene Stock Up 2.6%

Shares of NYSE CNC opened at $58.72 on Friday. Centene has a one year low of $25.08 and a one year high of $60.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $44.49 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $42.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.00 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.47, a PEG ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.06.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $3.37 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.23 by $1.14. Centene had a negative net margin of 3.25% and a positive return on equity of 5.57%. The business had revenue of $49.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $47.53 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.90 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Centene will post 3.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Centene

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Addison Advisors LLC lifted its position in Centene by 455.6% in the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 739 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 606 shares during the last quarter. DV Equities LLC bought a new stake in Centene in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. bought a new stake in Centene in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Centene by 118.4% during the fourth quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 749 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 406 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bayban bought a new position in shares of Centene during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

About Centene

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.