Centene (NYSE:CNC) Trading Up 4% – Should You Buy?

Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) shares were up 4% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $63.73 and last traded at $63.15. Approximately 1,987,178 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 57% from the average daily volume of 4,583,897 shares. The stock had previously closed at $60.73.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CNC. UBS Group raised Centene from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $79.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Argus cut shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Centene from $89.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Centene from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $68.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Centene currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.92.

Centene Trading Up 6.0 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The company’s 50-day moving average is $59.79 and its 200-day moving average is $62.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.32, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.40.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. boosted its position in shares of Centene by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 4,094 shares of the company’s stock worth $248,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its position in shares of Centene by 8.8% during the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 2,092 shares of the company’s stock worth $127,000 after buying an additional 169 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its holdings in shares of Centene by 75.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 412 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its holdings in Centene by 23.7% during the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 956 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares during the period. Finally, Howard Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Centene by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,591 shares of the company’s stock valued at $218,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

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.