Centene (NYSE:CNC) Rating Increased to Hold at Jefferies Financial Group

Centene (NYSE:CNC) was upgraded by equities researchers at Jefferies Financial Group from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $64.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $53.00. Jefferies Financial Group’s price target suggests a potential upside of 4.45% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on CNC. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Centene from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on Centene from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $75.00 target price (down previously from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Centene from $66.00 to $71.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Centene has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $80.85.

Centene Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:CNC opened at $61.27 on Tuesday. Centene has a fifty-two week low of $55.03 and a fifty-two week high of $80.59. 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 has a market cap of $30.39 billion, a PE ratio of 9.82, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.53. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $59.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $62.06.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Centene

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNC. Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Centene by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC now owns 221,156 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,398,000 after acquiring an additional 10,515 shares during the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Centene by 68.4% in the 4th quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 36,126 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,189,000 after purchasing an additional 14,671 shares during the last quarter. Polianta Ltd raised its stake in shares of Centene by 41.7% during the fourth quarter. Polianta Ltd now owns 22,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,338,000 after buying an additional 6,500 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in Centene by 27.3% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,602,533 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,082,000 after buying an additional 343,559 shares during the period. Finally, Washington Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Centene by 40.9% during the 4th quarter. Washington Capital Management Inc. now owns 19,130 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,159,000 after acquiring an additional 5,550 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

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.